


Save me (I'm falling apart)

by salty_fish



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Basically Stray Kids in Superpower Academy, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gen, Happy Endings don't worry, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, OT9 - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Possibly other relationships to be added in future, Rated T for language, Romance, Save Me, Slow Burn, changbin is whipped, superpower au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-19 12:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salty_fish/pseuds/salty_fish
Summary: Felix struggles with his newfound abilities.But luckily, Changbin (and the rest of Stray Kids) aren’t going to let him go through it alone.Alternatively,The OT9 Superpower!AU where all of Stray Kids are enrolled in JYP Academy for Gifted Individuals. None of them expected anything to come out of it, but somehow, even with tattered hearts and souls more than a little broken inside, they find themselves forging bonds thicker than blood and afamily, in the most unexpected place.





	1. Chapter 1

Felix groaned and stretched, feeling the way his muscles screamed at him in agonising protest. He’d been stuck in that slouch for more than an hour straight and his back was now stiff from the freezing cold. His sorry excuse of a jacket was nothing but a piece of complete junk, a sad and sorry barrier against the blasting air-con that fate wouldn’t allow him to find the remote control to.

He glared at the offensive brown article, eyeing it with distaste. 

It was ratty and old with small tears in various places, patched over with poor needle work and scraps of fabric that came in a terrible array of colours. Completely hideous. The kind you would’ve never allowed to exist if you didn’t want people seeing it to suffer.

But then again, he shouldn’t be complaining. Beggars can’t be choosers.

He was shivering like a human popsicle, the ginormous urge to head-desk himself persistently stuck in his head for the entire time he’d been here. Because why did he, Lee Felix, already aged 16 but apparently still none the wiser, have to go and slip out at a weird ass time like this? Why didn’t he stick to visiting hours like a normal. freaking. person. 

Questions, questions. So many questions.

And Felix literally just dug his own grave because there’s this very great possibility that he _will_ suffer the wrath of the caretakers and they’ll have him scrubbing the toilet for weeks!

Why, why and why. 

Definitely not one of his brightest moments.

He had no idea where there sudden impulsiveness had come from. One minute he was heading upstairs after roll call when he’d just happened to turn around, spotting the caretakers with their backs turned. The next thing he knew, he was already halfway past the door, barely remembering to stick his hand into the shared closest for some outerwear before he pranced off to freedom.

To think he’d actually felt a little proud of himself initially, a little skip in his steps as he cut through the alleys. He must have had been stupidly high on adrenaline because how else could he even possibly think this was in any way a good idea? 

This is a _shit_ idea, Lee Felix. What were you doing?

He groaned and tugged at the stupid piece of cloth he’d draped over his shoulders, the thinness of the fabric terribly apparent between his fingers. He didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry at this point. Just how on earth did he manage to pick out the thinnest and the shittiest damn jacket out of the dozen other thicker ones in that same bloody wardrobe? On the _one_ day he decides to sneak out by himself too. 

So now here he was, butt half-frozen and all ready to die because he couldn’t seem to find that one remote to the damn air-conditioner. It’s really not the most honorable kind of death so he hopes that Chan knows well enough not to put it on his grave. And if he survives, he still needs to face the caretakers so it’s death either way.

The least he could think to do was to try and stretch his body. If only to relieve the cramps in his back. But then he remembered that a certain Bang no-fun Chan had banned him because ‘Your definition of stretching is absurd, twisted and screwed up. Stop before you land yourself in hospital. How did you even survive until today?’.

Well, good question. He’s not too sure actually. Probably because he always had Changbin by his side, always there to keep him on his feet, always ready to catch him when he fell. 

But now‒

Now he didn’t.

He sighed and looked down at his feet, tears pricking all of a sudden. His fingers had dug into the palms of his hands without him realising but he could hardly register the pain, the sensation somewhat dull and muted under the sea of his overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

He rubbed a palm across his face, frustrated and still not quite paying attention. 

Yeah. Nice going, Lee Felix. 

You had one good thing and you managed to screw it up too.

 

 

 

 

The next time he blinked his eyes open, he was surprised that it was most possibly already past midnight if the amount of drool was of any valid indication. Without thinking, he’d glanced to the wall. Only to remember that the clock got taken down two days prior when it ran out of batteries. So he looked down instead, scrunching his nose. 

The puddle of drool was about medium-sized at best - so hmmm, maybe an hour? 

Felix got up, stretching as he made his way over to the windows, brusquely shoving the blinds aside to check. He didn’t know what he expected to see but it was indeed very dark outside, the sky clear of clouds and the moon high and distinct in sight.

It felt strangely nostalgic and it made him hum to himself in thought. 

Maybe it bore some resemblance to the Sydney skies?

For a good two minutes, he racked his brain for any impression whatsoever, only to come up empty. And it wasn’t exactly surprising since it had been so long- _years_ since he’d last set foot in Australia that his memories of it were either entirely non-existent or fuzzy. It didn’t help that he’d hardly any photos to remember. Most of it had gotten lost when they had moved him time and time again.

Instead, the closest memory he pulled up was of that one time he and Changbin had snuck out, laughing over their escape. They had trudged up the hill to stare up at Korea’s version of the night sky although he remembered the moon being partially hidden by the clouds. The both of them had huddled together against the chill until they drifted off into slumber, only to give up and make their way back an hour later because it got too cold.

It was one memory he liked very much and he hoped that this time, he was old enough to never forget.

He found himself truly smiling for the first time in a long while as he settled back into his chair amidst the darkness. The lights were off but the moon still shone through the windows, illuminating a certain distinct nose while the other boy continued to sleep with the machines beeping around him.

It made Changbin look all soft and sweet, like he was the human embodiment of pleasantness and peace. If the older boy ever heard him he would’ve definitely grumbled about it. Something about wanting to maintain his big scary image even though it’s been years since he had to scare the bullies off him. Felix can handle himself now. He’s taller and bigger than he was back then although he’s still a mix of awkward and gangly. His legs are longer and he can run faster so Changbin can stop worrying.

But of course he wouldn’t listen. 

And it was all terribly ironic. Because while Changbin was notorious for being the scary senior with dark scowls and eye glares, Felix knew him as the kind-hearted person who was first to reach out when he had found him sprawled on the ground. Bruises and scrapes littering his skin. 

He wasn’t anybody. Just another kid from the same Home. And Changbin was one of the older boys that he’d never really talked to, with the language barrier and all. At least nothing beyond ‘pass the kimchi’ at the dinner table, and a ‘please’ if it was him asking. But the older boy had stuck with him from then on, threatening to punch anyone who would laugh at his weirdly accented korean even when he could hardly understand him himself.

Students would make impressive u-turns when they saw Changbin in the hallways and it always made him upset because the older boy wasn’t all the rumors made him out to be. He didn’t know how things got blown so out of proportion after that one incident where someone had made fun of him, shoving him into a tree and it had taken Changbin all but two minutes to come storming.

The older boy would just pat his shoulder and tell him not to worry because he didn’t care one bit. Apparently, he had more important things to worry about like Felix passing his classes so ‘Hurry up and stop stalling, will you? I want to look over your homework before dinner and- wait, I _know_ that face! Get back here, you little shit! Don’t you _dare_ tell me you didn’t finish!’

How did everyone not see? 

Changbin was the kind of person who would stop and rescue kittens from the rain, sneak leftover biscuits for the strays, rescue an idiot like Felix and- 

And even on the brink of passing out, he had gripped onto the fabric of his shirt with knuckles so white despite the excruciating pain he must’ve been in. If only to tell Felix between gasps of air that _"It’s okay, it’ll be okay. Not your fault.”_

_“Don’t cry."_

 

 

 

How could anything even be okay?

Changbin almost _died._

A burst of light, so hot and so bright that it was almost completely white had the older boy suddenly collapsing to the ground and screaming in pain. He hadn’t dared to touch him, sparks emitting from his fingertips and the pungent smell of burnt flesh in the air. All he remembered was panic fuelled yelling as Changbin’s body went slack, completely unmoving.

The doctors themselves remained pessimistic, _”Don’t expect a miracle, boy. It’s not looking too good.”_

Changbin almost died. 

And of all people in the world, Felix was the one who almost killed him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Felix, is that you? _Aigo,_ look at the time.”

Startled, he sat up in alarm. Ready to bolt, to beg or to crawl under the table depending on who it was that found him because technically, he wasn’t even supposed to be here.

But thankfully, the sliding door only pulled open to reveal Minho, one of the nurses and one of the few people that (barely) tolerated his irritatingly persistent visits and never-ending questions, all asked in heavily-accented Korean to their blatant annoyance. Although he’d admit that sometimes he did it on purpose because they kept asking him to leave. Senior Staff Nurse Kim would have definitely marched him straight back, cold-heartedly leaving him to the fate of scrubbing toilets because she was _that_ level of Done with him.

Felix scrambled to wipe the mess off his face. But as he struggled to stand up and apologise, Minho simply waved a hand to dismiss it, already moving forward with a couple of tissues, his eyebrows pinched in concern.

That was until the nurse had taken a second glance at his snot-stained face and visibly grimaced. 

He didn’t even try to hide it, that asshole. 

“Actually, you know what. Take the whole damn thing.” Minho glared in exaggerated disgust and shoved the entire box of tissues into his hands as Felix struggled not to drop it. “Don’t you dare return it to me,” he warned, even going as far as to make some throat slitting gesture before he put a fair amount of distance between them. 

When he’d raised his eyebrows in question, Minho had only crossed his legs and shot him a look that said, _’You are disgusting. Stay far, far away from me or die you baby insect.’_

Wow, best nurse ever. 

Well free tissues for Felix then, he wasn’t one to complain.

“Oi, you missed a spot. To the right,” Minho ‘helpfully’ called out, pointing from halfway across the room. “No no, what are you doing? Not there but _there_ -” he sighed, and then threw up his hands like he couldn’t believe Felix was that much of an idiot. Right, as though he could’ve have known from the way Minho had been wagging his skinny finger from like _five_ metres away.

“You know what, come here you-” the older boy stomped over, grabbing a wad of tissues and smacked his hand away. “What would you do without me, huh?” he frowned as he scrubbed at the spot under his nose. 

He whined in protest but Minho ignored him, only nodding in approval when he was finally satisfied.

Felix groaned, flopping.

But instead of relenting, Minho ruffled his hair. “Silly, silly boy.” he said. 

And he felt him wipe at his cheeks with the thumbs of his hands. 

“Don’t cry,” the older boy told him, eyes soft. “Changbin wouldn’t want to see you sad.”

 

 

 

“You are such a brat.” Minho grumbled, but there was no real heat. Especially not with the way he’d broken off halfway into a soft yawn, tucking his chin into the crook of his neck like Felix was his own cuddly pillow. 

“It’s way past visiting hours. It’s almost _one.”_

Felix nodded and chewed on his lips. He felt bad seeing how Minho was so obviously tired. The older boy had only stopped by to do a quick check on Changbin just minutes from ending his night patrol. But then he’d found Felix and ended up spending an entire hour babying him.

He saw the way his eyelids kept drooping, the tired sag of his shoulders. And a few times the older boy would suddenly jerk to awakeness, startling even him. But whenever Minho realised he’d been caught dozing, he would just try and pass it off, citing whatever lame excuse his sleep addled mind could come up with. Like _’Don’t be silly. I’m just resting my eyes. It’s normal.’_

Yeah right. 

Felix had to resist the urge to tell him, “You _snored,_ hyung. Very loudly.”

Minho was just too bloody nice to leave him all alone.

“Sorry.” he’d apologised when the older boy failed to cover up yet another yawn. Minho had immediately looked ready to argue but Felix quickly interrupted him, eyebrows furrowed determinedly. “Thanks for staying with me. I know you’re tired, it’s _obvious_. ”

Minho crossed his arms, huffing. But he’d persistently stuck out his lower lip until the older boy gave in, shaking his head in exasperation as he reached forward and settled for passive aggressively squishing of his freckled cheeks instead. It was a good kinda sign, sorta. Because if anything, Felix had come to learn that that was just how an affectionate Minho functioned. 

(Affectionately violent).

But he’ll take what he can get to not have Minho whoop his ass.

Felix almost missed it, but just as he was looking up, he thought he’d witnessed a rather strange emotion flashing across the older boy’s face. And then it disappeared completely. Like it was never there.

He blinked in surprise. 

What _was_ that? Had he imagined it?

And like magic, suddenly all traces of sleepiness disappeared as Minho grinned at him, his eyes alert and bright and his lips curled at the ends like the cat that got the cream. And oh boy, to say it made him nervous was quite a severe understatement.

“Felix-ah,” he started, and Felix could only watch as his eyes _glittered_ in mirth. A sure sign that he was in deep deep shit. “You could have just told hyungie you know,” the older boy drawled, a sly smirk playing on his lips and a knowing look through his half-lidded eyes.

Immediately, he felt himself gulp. Because it was the sort of tone that always made him feel like a kid with a hand caught inside the cookie jar even if he really isn’t sure what crime he’d committed this time (he didn’t really keep track, too many). But Felix could already feel himself shrinking back as he furrowed his eyebrows in part wariness and part confusion.

He didn’t know what Minho was talking about. Tell hyung what?

No no no wait. Scratch that.

Did he actually even want to know?

He scrambled to stand up, to get away. To run for the hills and never look back because shit, this was _freaking_ scary. “Oh look, hyung. You’re absolutely right! It _is_ pretty late. Gotta blast-” but before he could make a quick strategic retreat, Minho pounced and gripped onto the cloth of his stupid jacket, dragging him back down.

Damn, he knew he should’ve ditched that ugly thing. 

“Hyung works here, Felix-ah.” he says, very slowly. Like he’s trying to lull him into a false sense of security although it’s honestly not working. Not like Felix can escape anyway so why does he even bother. Minho has his fingers closed so firmly around his bicep and nails dug so determinedly into the fabric that he would have to sacrifice an arm to break free or something. 

So he gave up struggling, panting.

At which Minho only smiled, clearly pleased.

And suddenly Felix had the most terrible urge to cry.

“You could’ve just told me and I would’ve easily shown you the back door,” The older boy smirked, patting his hair, like Felix is some small animal that needs to be coddled. “Cute, what was it again?” he tapped his chin thoughtfully, watching in glee as Felix widened his eyes in trepidation of the unknown. 

“Oh,” he smiled. 

“So you missed _Changbin_ enough to sneak in through the windows-”

Felix sputtered. 

And then choked on his spit, descending into a huge coughing fit while Minho, a trainee _nurse_ , had the decency to just sit there and laugh at him, even gripping unto the table-top for support while Felix felt the tips of his ears burn red. Maybe he should write to the hospital. Ask them to review their intake of nurses for the health and goodness of all their patients because Minho here, obviously lacked empathy as you can see.

“I‒It’s not like that!” he stuttered out.

But Minho only smirked, “If it’s not like that then why do you have such a grand reaction, hmm? You’re blushing!”

He groaned, buying his face into the palms of his hands while Minho’s shit-eating grin absolutely refused to fade. Every time he thought he’d calmed down enough to look up, he would peek through the gaps of his fingers only to find the older boy waggling his eyebrows at him. 

“Felix’s _Changbinnie_ -hyung ~” Minho sing-songed, laughing as he turned even redder.

Asshole. He’s probably never going to let him live this down.

“Seriously though,” Minho wiped at the tears leaking from his eyes, struggling hard to breathe. “Stop climbing that tree behind Block C. It’s older than it looks so it could be dangerous.” he warned. “The window’s on the third floor too. Hyung’s worried that you’ll fall and hurt yourself. Didn’t I tell you that there was this patient who tried to escape from that same window and cracked _three_ ribs? He was screaming like a banshee so we had to rush him to make him shut up‒ oi brat, you listening to me?” 

The older boy waved a hand in his face, frowning. 

But Felix couldn’t find the words to reply, too stunned to say anything. 

Because while Minho had said it all so offhandedly, that had been one of the most detailed descriptions he’d ever heard in his entire life. Which yeah okay, wasn’t that much of a big deal since anyone could do that. Except that everything he’d said had been extremely accurate. 

Scarily accurate. 

How was that even possible? 

Felix had deliberately picked out Block C because he _knew_ that renovation for the lower offices had only just completed. Which meant that none of the hospital staff would’ve actually moved in yet. So how then did Minho find out? He’d even known which window too! It couldn’t be that he’d left them unlatched, he checked everything at least two times before heading over and‒

Thwack!

Pain blossomed across his forehead.

He yelped, slapping his hands over the stinging spot with watery eyes.

“Hyung! Did you just- _flick_ my forehead with your middle finger?” he cried out loud. “That hurt!”

But Minho only scoffed, not in the least affected. If anything, he looked far too pleased. “If it hurts then pay attention when your hyung is talking! I’m not scared to do it again so don’t tempt me.” he warned. “And no more window climbing or I’ll be upset with you!”

Felix sniffled and rubbed at his forehead, pouting. He had been careful though. What could he have missed? 

The windows, check. 

Doors .. check. 

Hmm, how strange. What else was there? 

“Oh no! The security cameras!” the sudden realisation had him jolting up in panic, arms flailing. And if not for Minho hissing loudly in pain, he wouldn’t even have noticed how he’d accidentally elbowed him in the ribs. “Oh shit, sorry sorry! Are you alright? Hyung, what do I do? Senior Staff Nurse Kim will _kill_ me when she finds out!” 

The older boy smacked his floundering hands away and scowled, rubbing the spot where he’d been cruelly jabbed. “Shut up and stop worrying, idiot.” he glared. “You’re lucky that the rewiring work got delayed. The cameras won’t actually be installed until tomorrow.”

“Wait, really?” Felix perked up. 

And slumped in relief when Minho nodded. “Thank goodness!”

The older boy leveled him with an unimpressed stare, arms folded. “If you’re _that_ worried then don’t do stupid things. Isn’t that really simple?” he huffed. “Just wait a couple of hours until morning. Why climb some window and risk cracking your skull open, silly.” Minho sighed and shook his head, muttering grumpily about idiot dongsaengs with crazy tendencies to make their hyungs sick with worry.

Felix could only laugh sheepishly, scratching his neck. “It just made sense at that time?” 

Minho scowled at his response. But to his utter annoyance, it only made Felix beam brighter at him. 

He found that Minho was quite like Changbin in that aspect. The older boy cared very much but showed very little, a tough front backed with tough love. He had been a little intimidated at first, with Minho’s barbed words and knowing eyes. But when he had been confused and lost, the older boy had always looked out for him. Even when he was caught up in the never-ending spiral of darkness and emptiness, he always seemed to know.

How lucky. He didn’t deserve him.

That aside, one thing kept nagging at his curiosity.

“Hyung, if not the cameras then how did you find out?” he asked, watching as the trainee nurse stomped across the room to turn up the temperature. Oh look, had the remote always been there? He spent an hour searching for that stupid thing.

Minho didn’t answer immediately. But when he finally returned to his seat, Felix found that the older boy had a sly smirk on his lips, dark eyes glittering. Which 9/10 meant that he already knew what Felix was trying to do. 

Ah damn it, this hyung is really not easy to fool. He pouted.

“I have my ways.” Minho played along, clearly amused as he gave him an easy shrug. “So you’d better not do it again because I guarantee you that I’ll find out.” he threatened, narrowing his eyes. “You got that?” 

He groaned in protest, grumbling loudly. But when he failed to say yes, the older boy didn’t hesitate. Immediately standing and lifting up his finger to flick his forehead again.

Felix let out an almost-shriek as he scooted back, nodding vigorously. 

Minho smiled in return, finally satisfied. 

“Good, now stay that way.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of Minho, Felix left the hospital comfortably by the back doors of Block A, a new fluffy scarf wrapped round his neck because the older boy had intercepted, grabbed and then wrangled the warm woolen article around his neck despite his repeated protests. _“Stop screaming, you idiot. You aren’t even supposed to be here!”_

And then he’d held him at arm’s length with one hand and called Chan with the other because according to him, Felix was still a baby and therefore, completely incapable of walking back alone.

How ridiculous! 

Felix was a sixteen year old! Not‒ not some kind of _fetus!_

“Felix!” Chan smiled as he bounded over to him, curly hair bouncing and dimples appearing from maybe a mile away. “Hi Hyung,” he waved and said in return, watching as the older boy slipped his phone into his pockets so he could swing a friendly arm around him. “Heya Mate, good to see you!” the older boy grinned happily, “How have you been? It’s been quite a while, I‒”

Crunch!

Both of them looked down, staring.

And after what felt like an entire minute of awkward silence, he coughed. 

“Is this a phase? Or‒ or some trend?” the older boy asked, pointing to all _three_ crinkled cardboard boxes squished between them. Felix quickly shook his head, opening his mouth to explain but‒ “No no no wait, it’s cool.” Chan interrupted, one hand up, shushing him. “Felix-ah,” he gave him a strong pat on his shoulder ‒ which was literally so strong that he felt like he’d almost coughed out a lung ‒ “Just know that hyung will always support you, alright?” he said, and flashed him a fatherly smile. 

Err wait‒ what? Felix blinked.

 _“Always.”_ Chan emphasized, and nodded understandingly. 

Which marked the second time that night that Lee Felix desperately wanted to head-desk himself. 

Long story short, Minho hadn’t been kidding about the tissue boxes being a keep-them-or-die thing and Chan had mistakenly concluded that Felix, his self-proclaimed adopted child of sorts, had this interesting new hobby of collecting them.

 

 

 

The paths were deserted and it would’ve been pitch dark if it weren’t for the occasional street lamp and their flickering amber lights. It was rather chilly too, the soft breeze made him shiver spine down, curling into himself and snuffling into Minho’s fluffy woolen scarf - now his, because the older boy refused to take it back. Despite his repeated protests, he was actually rather grateful for the added warmth. He didn’t know how else he could’ve possibly made it back then. 

He glanced up at Chan, chewing on his bottom lip.

It had been pretty late when Minho called, but the silver-haired boy said he didn’t mind. Something about being awake anyway. Even so Felix felt conflicted, mainly guilty for making him come all the way out so late at night when he could be sleeping instead. It honestly wouldn’t make much difference now that they were already half way back but still he felt his guts twist up in discomfort. 

He sighed internally.

Lee Felix, what are you doing? This is the exact opposite of what you’re aiming for!

Because to him, Chan always looked like he had the weight of the world resting on his entire shoulders, heavy with burdens and responsibilities, made light only by his easy going smile and bright personality. Felix would’ve asked him more about it but the older boy proved to be ridiculously skilled at evading so Felix made it his business just not to trouble him unnecessarily.

It’s something he’s failing quite miserably at right now.

“I’m surprised that you’re out at this time,” Chan laughed, oblivious to the internal conflict tossing and turning right inside him. “Quite a bit of a rebel aren’t you? I always thought you had curfews, or did I remember wrongly?”

Felix made a face, suddenly reminded of his problem at hand.

Usually sneaking out wasn’t that much of a trouble as sneaking back in, but that was until a few days ago when some idiot with a basketball smashed a few windows in. The Home suddenly decided it was a prime time to get them all replaced, swapping the usual latch on the window frames for locks instead. They were nearly impossible to get through, he’d checked. So while he didn’t fancy getting marched to the police over permanent property damage, he also had pretty much no other way to crawl back in other than to knock the doors and beg for mercy.

Talk about bad decisions. Why didn’t he just stay in, damn it.

“Um, we _do_ actually.” he said, scratching his neck. “Which err, is exactly why they are going to skin me when they find out.” 

Chan laughed and shook his head. 

“Don’t be extreme! Surely it can’t be that bad!” the older boy said, ruffling his hair.

But Felix only scrunched his nose in protest. 

What did he mean by it couldn’t be that bad? Of course it’s that bad!

“No no hyung, you don’t understand,” he told him, waving his hands and actually pausing mid stride to explain. Because it was a Very Important Issue. Or VII for short, if you prefer. The older boy slowed down to match his pace, eyebrows raised in doubt, but whatever. Felix took it as a positive sign anyway. Quickly, he placed one hand over his heart and gave Chan his best I’m-Very-Serious grimace. 

“Hyung,” he said. Admittedly, a bit slower than usual because he felt the need to emphasize the very importance of this entire thing. And predictably, the older boy leaned forward in sudden concern, frowning in worry. Felix couldn’t help but feel a flicker of satisfaction knowing that the matter was finally getting the attention it truly deserved.

“This could very well be,” Felix paused, heaving a deep sigh. “The very last time you’ll ever see me,” he finished, and looked up tearfully.

But for some reason, it didn’t get its intended effect because Chan immediately rolled his eyes. 

“What utter rubbish‒”

“It’s true!” he whined, tugging on his arm. “You won’t see me because I’ll be scrubbing toilets day and night! Do you even know how a toilet shared among a house full of boys is like? It stinks! It gets choked every other day! And‒ and- and a lot more, alright! It’s horrible!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chan snorted. “See, this is exactly why you guys should always keep it clean‒”

“Hyung, that’s hardly the point!” Felix complained, sulking. “Your dongsaeng here is going to rot from neverending toilet scrubbing! Please _empathize_ my poor soul instead of lecturing me!” 

But Chan only gave him a deadpanned look, arms folded unamusedly.

“Then I won’t have time to visit Changbin-hyung,” Felix pouted, bottom lip quivering. He quickly looked down, distractedly shuffling his feet and kicked at a stray pebble. But to his complete non-surprise, it missed the drain he was aiming for by a wide margin and rolled away miserably. Wow, what an accurate depiction of his life. “Hyung, what am I going to do? I promised to visit everyday.”

The older boy deflated, looking a little guilty. “Alright, alright. That sounds detrimental indeed,” Chan said, placatingly. 

And Felix nodded, sad. Even though it’s technically completely his own fault.

“Don’t worry,” Chan encouraged, bumping his shoulder. “Hyung will get you in! No one will even find out!” he had said. But Felix didn’t pay his words much mind, already heaving a deep sigh and accepting his impending doom.

Please please please don’t be toilet cleaning duty. Please!

 

 

 

Felix had met the older boy right after Changbin’s incident although the memory was a little bit blurry. He’d been really out of it when a group of medical personnel had flocked over, rushing to wheel Changbin’s limp body to the hospital. Paramedics had quickly ushered him into the back of the ambulance, but even then he could hardly process whatever they’d been shouting, far too much in shock.

So when the doors to the emergency room finally slammed close, Felix only had a second before he collapsed and passed out.

He’d eventually woken up an hour later in one of their spare beds, two pairs of wide eyes peering at him. 

The one with the silver hair (Chan) kept hovering, anxiously harassing him for his emergency contact and medical history, all asked in a rapid fire mix of English and Korean used so interchangeably that Felix felt his head spin. Meanwhile the other boy dressed in hospital garb (Minho) refused to stop poking his cheeks until he responded correctly with how many fingers he was using, _all_ at the same time.

To say he was confused, scared and lost was a huge understatement.

But really, it was his blessing to have the two older boy by his side. If not for Minho, he would have most likely have gone down the road of self-destruction and blame as each day passed and Changbin still did not wake. Minho always seemed to catch him at the right time, pulling him along for his patrols to keep things off his mind.

Chan on the other hand, was a different kind of emotional support. 

Because Chan was different, just like him.

 

 

 

“Oh right, I almost forgot!” Chan paused and stuffed his hands into his pockets, digging around with a concentrated frown until his face lighted up in triumph. “Here catch!” he’d told him, and barely even waited before he tossed something into his arms without any further warning.

For a moment, Felix panicked and struggled to catch the pair of what‒ gloves?

“Take them, Felix! I had it specially ordered. I think you’ll find them to be of especially great use!” Chan gave him a bright grin, holding two thumbs up. But Felix could only blink in return, utterly confused.

Great use? He frowned. 

Why would a pair of gloves be of great use to him?

Felix stared at the item curiously, his blatant confusion going largely unnoticed as the older boy started diving into his usual habit of gesturing wildly, clearly excited as he launched into a long and passionate speech about the threading, the workmanship, the‒ the what? Oh right, the nice ahjussi he got it from‒ 

The korean words were getting increasingly complicated as he chattered on and Felix found his mind spinning as he struggled to keep up. It didn’t help that Chan was speaking at bullet train speed so Felix surrendered after a while, lazily choosing to tune him out since it was a far easier option and settled for just nodding at the right pauses instead. If it was really that important, Chan would no doubt come and repeat it all over again.

Convinced that he was reasonably distracted, Felix ran his hand over the material, appreciating its smoothness beneath his fingertips.

Oh, would you look at that.

Felix didn’t claim to know much, but the gloves felt very nice, appearing also very attractively sleek and black in colour. But quickly, he felt himself hesitate. Because there was no way a pair of gloves as nice as these would’ve come cheap. Didn’t Chan mention something about getting these specially made by some nice old man too? These must’ve cost him a bomb! He still had his own set of gloves anyway, they were a pair of hand-me-downs, albeit a few years old and a little worn out but they were still in pretty decent condition nonetheless.

Chan must have finished his very detailed product description, probably even ran through it twice in both English and Korean while Felix hadn’t been listening. Because he now had his arms folded, smiling expectantly with his full set of teeth on display for all to see.

Well, this was awkward.

How long had it been since he’d stopped talking?

Felix coughed lightly, trying to cover up how he hadn’t been paying attention. “Err wow hyung, thanks for the leather gloves. Although I really think you should keep them for yourself‒” but before he could even make it that far, Chan was already beaming happily at him and Felix had to hurriedly look away, staring guiltily at a nearby tree.

Damn it, how was he supposed to put this across? 

“Uhm,” he tried again, still nervously avoiding eyes and shuffling feet. “They look real awesome, hyung. But you should probably keep them for yourself. Here look!” he quickly fished out the well-worn material from the depths of his pockets, waving the bright red monstrosity in the air. “I still have my own cute pair of gloves. Super adorable, you can’t miss them!” 

Chan’s expectant smile dropped as he glared at the _thing_ Felix was waving in his face.

“Felix,” he said, frowning. 

“I can literally _see_ the holes in them from here,”

But the younger boy wouldn’t stop holding them out to him, determined expression stuck firmly on his face. Chan almost started whining there and then for him to just keep it. “Weren’t you listening? Those gloves are _special,_ made of high quality leather _and_ rubber!” He’d shouted, ducking behind a couple of bushes to avoid Felix because the younger boy wouldn’t stop trying to return it back to him.

For all his hyung’s effort at childish whining, Felix squinted his eyes at the gloves, trying to examine them further. But still he felt like he was missing the point that Chan was trying to make. Unfortunately for him, his little action brought the enthusiastic gleam back into the older boy’s eyes and Felix found that he didn’t really have the heart to disappoint.

So he pretended to nod, grunting under his breath, as though the wonders of the world had just been revealed to him. 

But then he realised it wasn’t working to put Chan off until he could sneak them back into his pockets, because the older boy was still eagerly staring and waiting for his response. 

Shit. Now what?

Felix gulped as he desperately searched his mind for an appropriate reply, but nothing useful came up. So as a last ditch effort, he just crossed his fingers and took a shot in the dark. “Wow, hyung.” he started, and watched as Chan nodded enthusiastically back at him. 

“That’s‒ I mean, that’s really‒ err‒” shit, how was he supposed to say this without disappointing him? Felix glanced skittishly at the background, looking for the ultimate bullshit inspiration but dammit, everything here was just trees. “Errrhm‒” he continued blabbering rubbish, dragging it out as his eyes made one big round before landing back on Chan, who nodded again, encouragingly.

Well, screw this. He thought.

How bad could it be?

But as soon as his next choice of words tumbled out, he himself couldn’t help but wince at it’s level of stupidity.

“Man, I love rubber, yeah. That’s just so‒ errr, so freaking cool?”

It was the wrong answer apparently, because the older boy looked like he was about to burst a vein, eyebrows furrowed so strongly in a pained look as he threw his hands up in the air in a sure sign of surrender. It seemed like he was asking the heavens what did he do to deserve this kind of dongsaeng. Which okay, was kinda true because Felix couldn’t help but wonder too.

After a long while that Chan took to collect himself, the older boy held him by the shoulders. 

“They’re not special because they look cool, Felix-ah.” he said, speaking as patiently as possible, albeit a tad more tiredly than before like a parent to their child for the number _nth_ time, why one should not try to bring their pet fish out for a damn freaking walk.

Chan poked his forehead, sighing.

“But because they’re essentially electricity-proof, you pabo.”

 

 

 

Felix scrambled to put them on, heart beating so wildly it was threatening to break out of his chest. Almost immediately, he felt the currents mellow down like he’d never experienced before. He hadn’t even realised how different it had become until now. It was still there, of course. He could feel it just under the palm of his hands, the wild and strange energy cackling underneath his skin. But now it felt much more controlled, far less volatile than before.

Chan laughed, stumbling as Felix barreled into him, sobbing into his coat.

“There, there”. the older boy patted his back, smiling like a dad while Felix continued to cry into his shoulder. It must’ve been hard, dealing with all these things by himself. He was still so young, not even an adult. To try and remain strong despite such circumstances, strange powers, what a great burden for such small hands. 

Chan squeezed him tightly, hugging him strongly. 

How he wished he’d found him sooner. Poor boy must have felt terrified and lost. 

But at least, he was here now. 

He ruffled his hair, affectionately combing through the strands. “Hey,” he smiled, remembering something important as he felt the tiny grip around his waist when the boy had bunched the fabric into his hands. Silly boy almost didn’t hear him, too busy snuffling into his shoulder. 

Chan huffed a laugh and pinched his freckled cheek, smiling softly. “You don’t have to worry about touching people anymore.” 

Felix pulled back, eyes suddenly wide with realisation and snot running down his nose.

And then he‒ 

Cried even harder.

“Aigo, why are you crying. No wonder Minho gave you all those tissue boxes earlier.” he said, softly stroking his hair. “But hey, are you sure you aren’t collecting? It’s okay to tell hyung you know. I promise I won’t judge,” almost immediately Felix looked up and scowled, making a face at him through his puffy eyes. 

Chan chuckled, laughing heartily. 

“Okay, okay. It was a misunderstanding. But c’mon, let’s get you back home, alright?”

 

 

 

“Hyung, you know I trust you with my life, but are you absolutely, doubly, _freaking_ sure about this?”

Chan gave him an unimpressed stare and scowled. “Yah! Just a few minutes ago, _you_ were the one waxing poetry about your handsome, amazing, wonderful, all-knowing Channie-hyung and now you are doubting me? How dare you! Is this your level of trust?”

“B‒But Hyung!” Felix shook his head wildly, “This is different! No no no, wait! Wait! WAIT HYUNG, WAIT! PUT ME DOWN!”

Chan sighed and released him for the fifth time, one minute away from stomping his feet childishly as Felix slumped against the wall in relief. They were standing outside the Home right now with literally just the brick wall separating them from the interior, all because Chan here had this crazy idea that shoving him through the wall would magically solve everything.

“Fine. I’ll wait, so stop yelling. You’re alerting everyone that we’re trying to break in!”

Only then did Felix finally halt in his endless struggles to escape, groaning tiredly. But like a shark smelling blood, Chan’s eyes only flashed when he saw how Felix let his arms lose strength. Quickly picking it out as a sign of weakness, the older boy’s face lighted up with an evil grin.

“Hyung, this is crazy‒ OH NO WAIT, STOP! YOU CAN’T‒”

Too late.

And he would’ve woken up the entire house if it weren’t for the older boy’s hand clamped over his mouth. 

“Hyung! You meanie!” he hissed, turning around to glare at him through tearful eyes. He’d actually dared to push him through the wall when he’d been at his weakest moment, when he had been completely unprepared! Both mentally _and_ physically! What utter betrayal!

But Chan only chuckled silently in return, ruffling his hair. No longer was he the bloodthirsty self from before but that didn’t mean he was in any way apologetic, simply shrugging his shoulders like he’d done nothing bad. Asshole. Still, he was just thankful that Chan’s crazy idea worked and the older boy didn’t just convince him to get himself brained. 

Arms check, legs check. 

Head‒ errr, check. With mental scars, but otherwise still pretty much intact.

Chan pulled him up to his feet, gesturing at him to remain quiet and waved him back to his room. “You should go now. Quick, before someone wakes up.” Felix nodded and quickly crept up the stairs despite his shaky legs, gripping the railings like his life depended on it. Half way up, he glanced back at the silver haired boy getting ready to leave. And with his newly gloved hands, he waved vigorously in the air, hoping it was enough to convey how much it meant to him and how grateful he was for everything.

It seemed that Chan understood, because he smiled in return, eyes softening as he nodded back.

“Goodbye,” he mouthed. And Felix watched as the silver haired boy proceeded to step _through_ the walls in front of his very eyes, staring as the ends of his coat fluttered behind him and disappeared like his very person. 

As though everything had just been his imagination.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **FYI:**  
>  Some mentions of off screen deaths and car accidents;  
> please don't continue reading if you're not comfortable

"Felix? What's wrong?"

But the boy only looked up from where he was sitting beside Changbin's bed to give him a watery smile. It worried Minho, the last time he had seen him cry this badly was when the doctors had told him to expect the worst since Changbin could possibly never wake up. 

How bad were things if he was crying like that again? 

His eyes were so red and puffy from what had to be hours of tears and he was still sobbing so hard that he could barely choke out a coherent reply.

It made his heart clench. He had always felt at lost whenever the younger boy had tears rolling down his freckled cheeks. Felix was two years younger than he was, he couldn’t imagine the kind of pain that would make such a young boy cry like this.

 

"M-Minho-hyung," he sniffed. "I need a favour from you, _please._ "

From where Minho was standing, he could see Felix gripping onto Changbin's hand in his own gloved ones. Weren’t they supposed to solve everything? He remembered Felix skipping into the wards with sparkles in his eyes, raving about how amazing they were, that they were ‘magical’ or something.

And of course Minho knew what that ambiguous term meant. But he just let that slide and feigned ignorance just in case Felix wasn’t ready to tell him anything about his abilities yet.

Plus it couldn't have been that Changbin's condition had worsened, because Minho would have definitely been one of the first to be notified as his assigned nurse, so it made him really confused.

Or was it something else … 

Minho narrowed his eyes at the younger boy, “Don’t lie, but did someone bully you? Tell hyung who is it. I’m a nurse, I can easily retrieve their personal details and their address. Hyung will take care of it.” 

If any asshat dared to lay a finger on his favourite dongsaeng, oh, they'd better sleep with an eye open, because he will hunt them down or his name isn’t Lee Minho.

Felix sputtered out a laugh between his tears which immediately lifted the heavy weight in his heart. The younger boy fondly shook his head at him, a small smile pulling at his lips. “Hyung, that’s an abuse of power. You might go to jail.”

Minho sniffed, because who cared about that? He didn’t say anything about getting caught.

Felix smiled softly, and then stared at his feet. "Hyung, I have to go somewhere far away for a long time."

Wait, what? 

"If I don't go, I'll never be able to face Changbin-hyung when he wakes up."

The boy continued softly, fingers fidgeting. 

"I caused a lot of problems, and I need to make things right or I might hurt someone again. I wouldn't be able to take it if either you or Changbin-hyung get hurt because of me."

"So please hyung, help me look after Changbin-hyung while I'm gone."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changbin didn't know how to describe it, but he was surrounded by a certain kind of blackness that seemed to go on for infinity and beyond, no end in sight. You could say that it was quite like the universe, just that without stars.

And it was really strange because it felt like he had no body, just a presence of mind floating in a sea of dark.

He would dream of many things and sometimes they played out like a movie, short clips of his life flickering on and off the screen while he was forced to stand off at the side like a mere spectator. He couldn’t run away, he couldn’t dash out to interfere, he could only sit back as he watched everything unfold before his very eyes.

 

Like that one replay of the car accident that cost him his entire family.

He couldn't remember how many times he screamed helplessly for his mum and dad to open their eyes, to gather strength to at least get the heck away from the wreck because it was going to explode. 

Or at his older sister, to just hang in there for a little longer because the ambulance was coming soon, she couldn't give up now. 

_(Just hold on a little longer. Please, I beg you)._

 

It was useless though, his pleas and cries could never reach them.

 

 

 

They don’t make it each time and Changbin has to watch them die over and over again.

 

He hated those memories the most.

 

 

 

Other occasions, he would recall his time spent at the Home.

He would look into the mirror each day and force a smile on his face if only to get the social workers to leave him alone. 

He wasn’t good at pretending, it looked horribly fake and it made his cheeks hurt. Sometimes he even forgot about it altogether. But all in all, no one noticed or paid him any mind. Or if they did, they hadn’t bothered calling him out for it.

(It took him a while to realise because some of the other boys were just too good at hiding their feelings behind perfect masks. But he eventually came to the conclusion that all of them under the same roof were pretty much playing the same game of make-belief.) 

For many different reasons, they were either just as broken as he was, or even more so.

It was a place called 'Home'. 

But it was ironic because it was filled with people who could only dream of having one.

 

 

 

Back then his life had lost all colour, it felt meaningless, a hollow where his heart used to be after the single most important thing in his life suddenly got ripped out of his hands.

He felt like he was gasping for breath every waking moment, and each time, he only barely managed to stay afloat.

Sometimes he wondered why he even tried.

 

 

 

On the other hand, his favourite ones were those that involved a certain brunette who dropped into his life like fresh dew to a withered plant and Changbin couldn't help but think that the heavens must have taken pity on him.

 

He remembered how he used to make plans to adopt a cat or a dog one day, if only to make him feel less alone or make his days feel even a little more bearable.

But with the unexpected addition of Felix, he found himself quietly scraping all those thoughts away, simply because he suddenly found himself with his hands full with just that one boy he never quite subscribed to but still got mailed to him anyway.

And because people always said that pets were a great responsibility, Changbin decided firmly that he just didn't have enough time to look after any animals.

Because Felix was great enough of a responsibility, duh.

(It was alright though. He rather liked it actually.)

 

And it always made him indescribably happy whenever his mind decided to be merciful and select ‘play’ on his memories with Felix. Not only were they a blessed escape from the many other things he just wished he could forget, but they also brought about life and colour into the greyness he hadn’t even realised had seeped into his bones. 

They were usually frequent and vivid, some of them more in detail than others and it made his soul smile.

He liked them all the same.

 

Like the one time where he chased off some school thugs who had been harassing the boy for who knows how long.

The younger had winced as he stood up, but when he realised that the senior was still watching him, he hastily tried to cover it up by standing ramrod straight. 

Changbin had to actually resist rolling his eyes. He was trying his best to behave sympathetically here, but who on earth did the idiot think he was fooling?

“How badly are you injured?”

And immediately the pair of wide doe eyes widened in alarm, before quickly averting themselves from him, choosing instead to stare straight ahead at some random lamp post as though Changbin himself couldn’t see what he was doing. 

“I-I’m alright now.” And then proceeded to shamelessly pretend he was fine by ‘casually’ brushing off the dust from his uniform. 

Seriously, where could he be learning all these nonsense from?

And Felix must have seen the utter disbelief on his face (cuz hey, this kid couldn’t even tell one lie without stuttering), because the next thing he did was to determinedly bend down to pick up his school bag, his lips quickly paling from exertion.

Changbin sighed.

Long story short, he had to support the idiot all the way back, carrying his ugly ass neon orange bag along with him because the younger refused to part with that stupid thing.

 

There were also many others, like the one where Felix watched his first ever horror movie because it was apparently a ‘thing’ right now and everyone was doing it. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” He said.

But no, the brunette had to stubbornly shake his head at him, puppy eyes already in full force and Changbin was a weak, weak man.

“You’ll regret it, I’m serious.” 

Did he listen? 

Of course not.

He had squeezed Changbin's arm so tight that he swore he almost lost a limb that night and yelled so loudly at the top of his lungs that the police had actually come knocking at their doorstep because one of the neighbours supposedly reported someone screaming bloody murder.

 

Or the one where he and Felix had sneaked out at midnight to watch some supposed meteor shower that the younger overheard his classmates talking about in class.

“Hyung! Changbinnie-hyung! We totally need to go see it! It’ll be so much fun!” 

The brunette had tugged on his hand insistently, whipping out any cringy aegyo he possessed, which made him wonder why did Felix even need to bother when he wasn’t going to listen to his ‘Changbinnie-hyung’ and drag him along anyway?

He didn’t know what he expected, but there definitely wasn’t any ‘meteor shower’ in the end. Felix being Felix, apparently got the dates all wrong.

They ended up sleeping under an empty night sky, huddled and shivering from the cold. He had complained loudly that his ears felt like they were going to fall off and Felix had grinned sheepishly in return. 

But he’ll admit, it was nice nonetheless.

 

He wasn't sure, but there was at least one memory he had of Felix, hands bright with white-yellow light, crackling loudly against his tanned skin.

He chanced upon it by accident.

Felix got assigned to clean the shed when they drew lots and Changbin had gone looking for him when they breaked for lunch. He should have knocked, but they were by then so used to one another that he no longer deemed it necessary.

It was gone in a flash, almost like it had never been there. But Felix had looked so scared and alarmed at the sight of him that he concluded he hadn't been seeing things.

He had opened his mouth to say something about it, like how it was pretty and why on earth can’t Changbin do it too, but the fear apparent in those big doe eyes made him stop.

He had never seen Felix look at him look like that before.

His mouth clicked shut and he decided that maybe it was best to let it rest for the time being. Or until Felix came to him at least.

 

Ah. 

Thinking about it, the next time he bore witness to that rather strange sight was a period of about three months later.

He remembered the same white-yellow light racing up his arm, it was so bright that it almost blinded him. It felt like his limb was being torn apart from the inside, the sharp piercing pain intensifying as each second passed while his nerves buzzed like they were over-sensitised and out of control.

He remembered screaming as he fell to the floor, clutching his arm.

Felix had looked so scared.

 

..

 

Felix. Where was he? 

He hoped that idiot was alright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hyung, I’m so sorry. I’ll come back as a stronger person.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What?

He suddenly felt the warm fingers that had been wrapped around his hand (since when had they been there?) squeeze firmly around him before letting go.

It sounded like Felix, and he sounded like he had been crying. 

His heart raced, what’s wrong? Why was he upset? Changbin desperately wanted to see him. But try as he might, his eyes refused to open.

Where was he going?

He struggled again internally, but his body just wouldn’t move. 

_Don’t go,_ he wanted to yell.

 

 

 

_“So please hyung, help me look after Changbin-hyung while I'm gone."_

 

Minho sighed as he made his way back to the ward, one hand wrapped around his phone in his uniform pocket. 

In less than an hour time, Felix would be leaving with Chan for the JYP Academy for Gifted Individuals, that information he gleaned off the top of the younger boy’s mind because he had been especially vague about it.

He understood his decision, respected it even.

Minho only wished that he could have seen him off, but he was rather unfortunately stuck on his assigned night shift yet again. 

He couldn’t help but feel sad because he had grown terribly fond of Felix, whose heart and thoughts were always pure and kind, something he had come to recognise as a grossly uncommon trait amongst the multitude of people he’d met. It was such a source of comfort to someone like him who had been burned one too many times.

Minho took his place beside Changbin’s bed and dutifully recorded down his vitals.

Felix had entrusted Changbin to him specifically and Minho wasn’t going to let him down. They would both be waiting for him to come back after he had learned to control his powers.

 

Minho felt his phone vibrate and he quickly swiped to pick up the call from Chan. Predictably, it was Felix on the other end.

“Are you still packing your stuff?”

The boy quickly answered an affirmative, saying how he was almost done and Minho could hear the faint rustling of fabric over the phone as Felix continue to shove whatever into his bag.

“Don’t forget to bring the scarf I gave you, who knows how cold it will be over there. And for goodness sake, please pick out the thickest jacket from the cupboard this time.”

He heard a loud snort of laughter from Chan in the background as Felix whined about that just being his bad luck the last time round.

“Alright, alright. Just make sure to give hyung a phone call when you reach there. Stay safe, Felix-ah.”

Ending the conversation, Minho tucked it back into his uniform with a heavy heart. 

He didn’t know what or where this JYP Academy was with everything being hush-hush and him having to piece together any clue he might have for any info at all (predictably, it didn’t turn up when he searched the internet), but it sounded really far away.

He trusted Chan to look after the boy (and also because Minho had already taken it upon himself to check over his thoughts to make sure the older had a solid, sound plan in place), but for Felix’s sake, he hoped that he was making the right decision to leave Changbin behind.

 

 

 

Minho was just about the leave through the sliding doors when he heard the machines screeching.

What? His eyes widened in surprise.

He hurriedly rushed back to Changbin’s side, looking over the monitors that were beeping erratically, a far cry from their usual lazy pattern.

Was something wrong? Changbin had been perfectly fine just now.

Minho quickly moved to call the doctors, but something stopped him.

 

 

 

 

Chan heaved the bags into the car boot, squishing them against his own.

Felix was busy staring at the house he’d lived in for a little more than four years now, the bold and yellow words spelling ‘Home’ hanging just above the wooden door, the sign more than a little worn out and rusty around the edges.

Ah, he mused. 

For some reason, he was going to miss this place.

He heard the car boot slam close and the silver-haired boy call out to him, “Felix, let’s go! We’re ready to head out!” gesturing dramatically to the car they were going to take. 

Felix nodded and took a last glance at the place.

He’ll come back soon.

 

 

 

He was just about to get into the car when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. 

Huh? 

Who would it be at this time? Chan quickly fished it out and answered.

 

_“Yah! Bang Chan! I called you at least eighteen times, why didn’t you pick up?!”_

“Wha- Minho?”

He had blinked in surprise at the use of informal language but was a little too stunned to snap at him. Felix must have heard the other boy shouting over the phone because he was now peering at him with wide eyes from the other side of the car.

_“Where are you guys? Have you left yet?”_

The nurse sounded urgent and out of breath, it made Chan concerned to hear the normally composed Minho so frantic to the extent that he was literally yelling his full name at him. Only his mum did that, and it was when he screwed up big time.

“Not yet? But we’re about to. We’re still outside the Home. Is everything okay? Did something happen?” 

_“Just don’t fucking move!”_

And then that asshole dared to hang up on him just like that, leaving Chan to stare at the phone in his hand in confusion.

Chan sighed and turned around, he didn’t really know what was going on.

“Felix, I’m not sure why Minho called, but we’ll wait around for a bit. It sounded like he’s rushing over. Maybe you would want to sit inside first?” he asked the younger as he checked his call log.

Whoa, and how did he manage to miss so many calls when his phone had just been sitting in his pocket? Chan shook his head at himself and looked up from his phone when the younger boy hadn’t moved or answered him.

“Felix? Why are you just standing there?”

But it seemed like the boy hadn’t heard him because he continued to stare ahead with wide, unblinking eyes. Chan furrowed his brows and quickly walked up to him to shake his shoulder.

“.. Channie-hyung, am I seeing things?”

Chan frowned at him, because what kind of question was that? His eyes were obviously open weren’t they? And the boy was still gaping like a goldfish which shouldn’t be too healthy, he’d heard before that staring too much was bad for the eyes, so Chan helpfully waved in his face to break him out of his daze.

“I don’t know, can you see my hand?”

Felix whipped around to stare a him, his expression exasperated. 

“ _No,_ hyung. Look!”

 

 

 

Lo and behold. 

Minho was walking up to them, but rather slowly. 

Because he was using his body to support .. Oh wait, was that Changbin?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote the part, '.. because he will hunt them down or his name isn’t Lee Minho.'  
> My head almost immediately went, 'Dibidibidis, My name is Minho ~' lol  
> (It was just supposed to be, '.. or his name isn't Minho' but I changed it later because it sounded smoother)
> 
> This was actually really interesting to write because I had to google up coma experiences .. which were .. eye opening  
> (I hope I didn't confuse you guys in that portion and I'm sorry if it isn't scientifically accurate)  
> And the Changlix scenes :)  
> They were great fun to write about
> 
> Do leave me comments and kudos if you liked it ~  
> Or tell me which parts you enjoyed (if you enjoyed any if not it's okay ;-; )


	3. Chapter 3

They had both heaved a heavy sigh of relief as the car came into view, thankfully not already on its merry way to some unplottable land hidden in Korea. Because while Changbin hadn’t been kidding when he said that he _would_ track it down to the ends of the earth even if it killed him, Minho had also been as equally serious when he said that he would do all he could to help him.

He hated to admit it, but he was already breathing heavily from exhaustion, his body breaking out in cold sweat. The nurse had quietly slung a firm arm around him, wordlessly tugging him along and supporting almost his entire body weight when it became apparent that he shouldn’t even be up and running about like a madman minutes from waking up.

But that’s what Changbin was. 

_Mad._

 

He had still been lying in the hospital bed, mind conscious of his surroundings while he continually battled his body to _just fucking move,_ because he’d heard when Felix cried, gripping his motionless hand in his own warm ones as he sobbed his heart out and Changbin had been utterly powerless to do anything about it. And get this right, the words Felix and crying or anything remotely sad should never ever go together. In fact, that thought itself shouldn’t even exist because that’s just horribly cruel and plain _wrong._

Someone like Felix should never be allowed to cry. It was a _crime_ to see him even shed tears.

Because Felix, although a ridiculously loud idiot, is a ball of sunshine, a natural fluffball, the sweetest person on the whole entire earth. He smiles so fucking much and is so bloody kind that he would never hurt a fly. Someone as pure as he should never have to feel pain or sadness. Felix could just open his mouth to ask for the whole world and Changbin would do anything to give it to him because Felix deserved everything and more.

It was also then that he overheard that Felix, as in the same loud idiot Felix who Changbin already swore to protect, say he was going somewhere far, far away with no solid plans of return in order to what? In order to protect _Changbin_ himself, which was just dumb because Changbin didn’t need to be protected, it was Felix who needed to be wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket with a steaming hot cup of chocolate, happy and safe from the evils of the world.

And Changbin had panicked, because just the thought of the other boy leaving him and never coming back simply made him a mess. But as though the swirling emotions had triggered something, he suddenly found his fingers obeying, his eyes snapping wide open.

The next thing he knew, he was face-to-face with the nurse who had turned as white as a sheet, but there was no freckled brunette in sight, just the nurse and machines blaring noisily in the background.

He had thought he’d been too late, that Felix was already _gone._

Changbin briefly remembered stumbling out of the bed and ripping the IVs embedded in his arm in a half confused, half crazed daze. But thank goodness for Minho, who literally had to wrestle him down before he could stomp out of the hospital barefoot. The older boy had to assure him repeatedly before he gave in, Changbin-ah, it’s not too late yet, he hasn’t left, so _please_ just let me get you some proper clothes and shoes, alright? I promise you we’ll catch up to them together, just -just at least let me get you shoes then we can leave right away.

 

He was feeling light headed, almost leaning completely onto Minho because his vision kept tilting dangerously to the right. And he also quickly tightened his grip on the nurse’s hand, feeling like he was going to hurl the empty contents of his stomach anytime time soon.

But he couldn’t give up now, not when they were so close.

As if sensing his phlight, Minho nodded encouragingly and squeezed his hand in return, “That’s right, Changbin-ah. Felix is right ahead, just hold on for a little more, we’ll get to him soon,”

Which was good, because if he and Felix ever got separated, Changbin honestly didn’t know what he would do.

He couldn’t put a name to it, still didn’t know what to call it actually. But other than the driving need to keep Felix safe from the world, Changbin also had a selfish, _selfish_ wish of just wanting to stay by his side. If he had to describe, the younger boy to him was like oxygen that kept him breathing. The calm and enduring presence that kept him grounded when it felt like darkness was overwhelming him, the source of warm motivation to get up, pick up his broken pieces and _move the fuck on._

Because without him, Changbin didn’t know how he was going to survive.

 

 

 

They had all been stunned to see Changbin with Minho’s arm around him for support.

But he didn’t even give them a chance to say anything. 

Taking advantage of their shell shocked figures, because hey this guy was supposedly a comatose patient for two freaking months what on earth is he doing walking about or actually, how was he even awake at all, the dark haired boy had actually brushed past them without a second glance. 

Before they finally caught on to what he was doing, he had already hobbled straight to the car, wrenched the door open and sat himself inside it with his arms crossed.

“I’m coming along.” He announced, like the sky was blue and water was wet.

And the murderous glint in his eyes just _dared_ them to go ahead and try to pull him out of the vehicle, because he would fight them there and then, _with teeth._

 

Felix’s head had immediately snapped up in disbelief upon Changbin proclaiming his intentions, “What do you _mean_ you want to come along, are you crazy!” And Minho must have sensed the dangerous atmosphere brewing, because from the corner of his eye, Chan saw the nurse slowly taking a several steps back to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

They had all watched as Felix stomped over to pull the door open, clearly outraged and not at all intimidated by Changbin’s display although Chan himself had shrunk back a little when those pearly whites glinted dangerously at him. 

“Hyung! The whole school is literally filled with people like me, you could easily get hurt again!”

But Changbin only hissed in return, “I can’t just let you go alone, you idiot!” He scowled as he tried his best to pull the door back close while Felix resisted with all his might, engaging in some sort of tug-o-war with Chan’s poor car door. He jabbed a free hand at him, “You couldn’t even survive school without me! What if you get picked on again?! You're so easy to bully!”

But Felix didn’t give in, “That’s not the point, _stupid!_ ” 

And they all saw as Changbin gaped in shock at suddenly being called dumb, by his favourite person no less, but Felix was breathing heavily and obviously near tears then. “Hyung! You almost died! Was once not enough?!” 

The dark haired boy frowned, already opening his mouth to argue, but Felix quickly interrupted him before he could do so, glaring at him between watery eyes, “If anything happened to you again, I’ll never be able to forgive myself! _You_ may think it's nothing, but how do you think I felt? I was _terrified_ at the thought of losing you!”

And almost immediately, Changbin faltered, whatever argument he had in mind dying at the tip of his tongue as he stared up at the younger boy, suddenly at lost at what to say. Felix quickly took the chance to slap his hands away from the door, tugging it open fully.

“And what makes you think I can live if you’re not around, you stupid, _stupid hyung!_ ” the younger boy yelled, pretty much full on crying now.

 

For a long while there was silence. Chan and Minho both holding their breaths with wide eyes as they tried their best to remain inconspicuous in the background. The suffocating tension remained until Changbin sighed out loud because Felix clearly refused to give in, tears streaming down his freckled cheeks as he bit down on his quivering lips in attempts to stifle his sobs.

“You idiot. I’m not going to let myself get killed this time. You know how I am, I’m smarter than that,”

But Felix didn’t look convinced and Changbin glared at him, somewhat insulted.

“ _Yah,_ why are you looking at me like you don’t believe me! Since when have I lied to you!” the dark haired boy grumbled loudly at him. But Felix didn't rise up to the bait like he expected, didn't even say anything in return, and Changbin felt his hopes sinking. Instead, the boy's face remained stuck in a semi-constipated look as he continued to fail in keeping his tears in. 

Changbin truly felt at lost with the crying boy in front of him. He didn't want to make things difficult, but as the minutes ticked by, the crushing possibility of not being able to stay with him became increasingly real and it truly terrified him. "Felix-ah," he tried, but the brunette stubbornly shook his head and kept his eyes trained on his feet, refusing to listen.

Desperately, he took the younger boy's hand in his, running his thumb over his knuckles to get his attention, "Just trust me this once, Felix-ah. Please," Changbin looked up at him pleadingly, clearly at his wit's end. "I've never let you down before, right?"

"And please think about me," He begged, squeezing his hand firmly in his.

"Neither will I be able to live if you're not there,"

 

 

 

“Ah, the drama of young love,” 

Chan snorted in agreement as he started up the engine because it was 100% true.

After all that excessive screaming and shouting earlier in the parking lot, the two boys asleep in the back literally had their heads lolling to the side from where they were smushed against one another, arms tightly intertwined despite the abundance of space around them.

And even after exhaustion had finally set in, Chan could still easily spot the faint smiles plastered on their sleeping faces from where he was sitting by the wheel. 

It was as clear as the day that they missed each other so much, and it was so bloody cute that it was giving him cavities. But it made Chan want to shake his head in exasperation at them because if they were going to be this adorable in the end, they could have certainly spared him all that unnecessary anxiety and ear damage when they had fought like there was no tomorrow.

Nevertheless, Chan was just glad that things had ultimately come to this. Since the time he had met Felix two months ago, this was the first smile that had truly reached his eyes. And the boy hadn't even needed to say anything for him to know, already glaringly obvious in the way that he was simply overflowing with joy to have his favourite person back with him.

Chan continued to hum a happy tune under his breath, deep in his thoughts. 

But that was until he realised _who_ exactly was the owner of the voice that had just spoken to him. He whipped around to glare at the other boy, who had casually slipped into the passenger seat and was now calmly putting the seat belt on like everything was normal.

“Yah, Lee Minho! What do you think you are doing?”

But the nurse wasn’t fazed, only blinking innocently at him with wide eyes. He then shrugged his shoulder in a nonchalant manner and reached over to turn up the heater, “Why is it so bloody cold in here?" he complained, frowning a little in frustration as he fiddled with the controls to no avail. Chan couldn't help but sigh at his pathetic attempts and moved to help him adjust it instead. 

"That's better, Thanks." He nodded at him gratefully, "And what does it look like, hyung. Obviously I’m coming along too,” 

Chan immediately stilled. 

But before he could say anything or maybe repeat a few lines of whatever Felix had yelled at Changbin earlier, music started blaring loudly which caused Minho to sigh as he pulled his phone out of his coat to check. He muttered grumpily a few seconds later, saying that it was the hospital that was calling. So Chan took the chance and nodded seriously at him, “Yeah, so maybe you should .. _y’know,_ " he gestured wildly into the air, hoping it wasn't too obvious that he was trying to dissuade him, "Answer it and get back to work?” 

But Minho only hmm’d as if deep in thought. So Chan shrugged and left him alone to return to his own things.

He had pulled out his own device, scrolling through instagram distractedly as he waited, when he registered the sound of the car windows winding down. Startled, Chan turned just in time to see Minho _viciously_ flinging his phone out, a distinctive crack loud and clear that immediately silenced the phone's ringing.

Chan stared at him, dumbfounded as his mind struggled to process what just happened, and maybe somewhere between disturbed to low-key fearful because since when was he sitting beside a monster that could easily pass off as a cute little kitten? But Minho only turned back around to smile sweetly at him, his eyes crinkling into crescents as he dusted his hands off casually like he didn't want to soil his hands after murder. 

Without thinking, Chan gulped and found himself tightening his grip around his own phone because 'just in case'.

"Please take care of me from now on, hyung!"

Chan's first instinct was to narrow his eyes at him and say no, because this wasn't some sort of school trip that anyone could tag along for the fun of it. But smiles aside, he quickly realised that the nurse (or ex-nurse now) was being oddly serious, his mouth set out in a determined line as he watched him cautiously. It was like he was ready to refute any arguments that Chan could bring up against him joining them.

Well then, if things were like this, then there wasn't much else to say.

"Alright, you can come,"

And Minho had immediately opened his mouth to argue back until he suddenly registered that Chan hadn't said no.

"Hyung," he stared up in shock.

But Chan just shrugged it off and started securing his own seat belt instead. It was strange, but he couldn't help the small smile playing on his lips despite knowing he just doubled his paperwork.

Not only did he have several calls to make to remove both Felix and Changbin officially from the Home, he now also had to invent a creative reasoning for the disappearance of not just one supposed comatose patient, but also the disappearance of one (1) law-breaking nurse lest the police get involved.

Thinking about it, no wonder Woojin insisted he leave PoPo, his huge ass stuffed bear behind. He should have guessed that he would be returning to the academy with not one, but a total of three additional baggage.

These idiots should thank their lucky stars that Chan liked them enough to not ditch them by the road.

 

 

 

"Thanks, hyung."

"No need to thank me, Minho-ah."

 

 

 

Seungmin frowned, more than a little confused. 

The halls all looked the same, faded blue walls with peeling paint jobs, but he was quite sure that this was the third time he was walking along the same corridor because that painting hanging on the wall was hideous on so many levels that Seungmin couldn’t purge it from his mind even if he wanted to. 

It looked like some five year old’s drawing of a .. dog? No wait, he wasn’t even sure, because it was green and when he had moved closer for a better look, he thought he spotted a drawing of three tails and maybe a magenta coloured party hat on that thing. 

But most curiously, there was a small scrawl in the corner, spelling out _‘duck’_ in comic sans bold.

Well, _damn._ Who would have guessed?

But back to the main point, Seungmin was utterly, completely, absolutely lost. 

He had totally no idea where he was in this maze of a school. Jisung had told him that he and the rest of the gang would be in training room five after class but Seungmin couldn’t spot a single soul in sight. He must have wandered into the wrong building, either that or Jisung was going to pay for making fun of him on his third day in school. 

Seungmin sighed loudly and slumped against the wall in defeat. He had circled around the halls for maybe an entire three times over the span of twenty minutes. 

He was almost ready to give up, already thinking of how to set up some kind of temporary camp under the ugly painting or how to send out an S.O.S, but it was then that he heard a strange combination of sounds coming from across the corridor, like the impact of metal against something and the flapping of wings.

In hindsight, it could have been really dangerous, because metal slamming sounds don’t exactly constitute to nice and pleasant company, but Seungmin must have been desperate. Or starving. Or actually, most probably both.

But in any case, he was already pushing the door open.

 

He didn’t know what he expected, but it was certainly not this.

Seungmin stared up in awe as the boy soared up into the air with his massive grey wings, which then came together mid-air to produce a strong gust of wind that knocked all the wooden simulations flat. He then circled around the auditorium, wings maneuvering effortlessly fast around the series of flying obstacles despite its otherwise huge size. 

Seungmin found that he couldn’t tear his eyes away and continued to watch from where he was standing by the door as the boy finished several more rounds of obstacle course in increasing difficulty before finally swooping back down to land gracefully on his feet.

He was sweating like crazy, loose shirt completely soaked as it stuck to his body like a second skin. But he didn’t seem to notice Seungmin’s awkward presence while he busied himself with towelling off his hair so Seungmin had no choice but to rap on the door lightly to get his attention.

The boy startled, head shooting up in alarm and almost dropping his towel.

The first thing he did was to immediately whip around so that his back was no longer facing him, the sharp grey wings quickly changing back to white and softer looking ones. He looked wary, the tension in his frame glaringly obvious, and Seungmin couldn’t help but feel bad because he must have intruded on something private.

“Hey, I’m so sorry for barging in like this,” He ruffled his hair sheepishly, “But I’m looking for my friends in training room five?”

The boy still looked uncomfortable, his eyes shifting awkwardly to avoid Seungmin’s, but he did seem more at ease now that his metal wings were out of sight. “These are the older training rooms, most people don’t come here anymore.” He explained, and then made a brief gesture towards the exit in the corner, ”Your friends are probably in the newer ones, the next building,” 

Seungmin beamed and quickly nodded his thanks. 

Picking up his bag, he hurriedly made his way over to the doors, but stopped just shy of leaving for some unknown reason.

When he turned around, he saw that the other boy had returned to his own things, busy stuffing his belongings into his haversack while his huge white and fluffy wings hung heavily on his back. They were pretty, but Seungmin kept finding himself thinking about the metal ones instead. Like the way each feather likened to a blade, or the way they easily swept up a gust of wind and how the metallic glint shone especially bright when it caught the light as the boy flitted around the room.

“Hey, the thing you did just now,” 

And it took approximately five seconds before the boy looked up, like a delayed response, as he pointed at himself in surprise and then looked around for anyone else that Seungmin could possibly have been talking to, which was silly because obviously there were no one else here besides them both.

Seungmin nodded, “Yeah, you. With your metal wings,” 

And the boy immediately froze, suddenly tensed as he stared back at him with wide eyes. It made Seungmin wonder why he seemed so shocked because he couldn’t possibly have thought Seungmin would miss the obviously huge, grey and sharp wings right? They practically towered over him although he was indeed quite tall, taller than Seungmin probably.

“It was really amazing,” he finished, and the boy gaped outwardly at him, like he didn't quite believe him or didn't know how to respond. 

Which was fine, because it was just a comment and Seungmin hadn't been looking for a reply. “Anyway, I’ve got to go, see you around!” he gave a quick wave, and then ducked out the doors when it seemed like the boy wasn't going to say anything anytime soon, somewhat a huge flustered mess for no reason at all. 

He was a little odd. But then again, Seungmin was friends with Jisung for a total of three days now so it'll only be a matter of time before 'odd' became his new definition of normal.

And oh boy, was he certainly late. Jisung would most definitely make a huge fuss now and probably try to wheedle him into buying chocolate milk as compensation, which Seungmin would do, but not until he was done throttling him for not mentioning the existence of both new and old training rooms.

(In short, he didn't see the boy who stared after him like some kind of a lovestruck fool)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had been deliberating for a while, but ta-da!  
> This solidifies plans to include our new relationship tag with Seungmin & wing-boy (who?)  
> And I'm terribly sorry that it's taking so long, but Minsung interaction will come soon!  
> Maybe in the next chapter or the following one (no promises, but I'll do my best)
> 
> (It was a last minute decision to add Seungmin's part at the end so this chapter took longer than usual)
> 
> Please leave kudos or comments if you liked it ~  
> (It's okay if you didn't)
> 
> Until next chapter! Bye guys!


	4. Chapter 4

“Don’t let Felix find out,”

The boy had gripped onto the ends of his coat just as he was about to step away from the bed, with surprising amount of strength for someone who was on the verge of collapse. 

Even still, Chan found himself hesitating, his feelings like a terrible clashing of emotions. He understood all too well why Changbin was asking this of him, he probably would have done the same if he ever found himself in a similar position. But Chan also knew how much Changbin meant to Felix, and the idea of keeping this from him, something so important, simply made his guts wrench in guilt. 

Changbin must have seen his uncertain expression, because he had held on insistently, refusing to let go. His eyes were blazing in determination, with fire that felt like it was smouldering him, as he gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Please, I’m begging you,” 

And Chan couldn’t help but feel utterly dumbfounded at how strong of a person Changbin was, even in such a state. Either the boy was gifted, which he’d checked already - he really wasn’t, or it meant that his resolve was nothing short of fucking crazy. 

Changbin had borne everything with a smile during their entire journey, somehow even finding the strength to display his dry sense of humor in between the car conversations, laughing warmly as he poked fun at Felix and teased him. Chan himself had kept a close eye on him, just in case the boy showed any sign of weariness, but even then he had no idea. 

At least not with the way Changbin had been holding himself up, his posture straight and casual smile in place while Felix had chattered and wriggled around excitedly beside him. 

The three of them had shared a knowing look while Felix had been busy staring and gaping at the school surroundings, shuffling along distractedly from where he had his hands wrapped firmly around Changbin’s uninjured arm - none of them thought that Felix tagging along to the infirmary was a good idea, but he was going to be terribly hard to ditch considering how he was sticking to the other boy like a leech.

Changbin could only give them a helpless look.

So Chan made some calls here and there, and within a few minutes, the youngest boy was being towed away by the one and only Han Jisung, under the guise of (hopefully) normal things like walking and exploring around the school like he was made to promise.

(Repeat after me, Han Jisung, _nothing_ close to wrecking havoc, you got me? I’m warning you.)

And as soon as Felix was out of sight, the doors shutting behind them with a resounding click, it only took a second before Changbin’s knees had buckled, giving both he and Minho a huge scare. Thankfully rushing to his side in the nick of time, they barely managed to save him from landing face down on the concrete - or more accurately getting his nose broken, because _that_ would most definitely be impossible to hide from Felix.

All the colour in his skin had drained away, he couldn’t even stand straight on his own two legs without support. Between both he and Minho, they had to lug his barely conscious body to the infirmary.

 

 _“Promise me,_ hyung.”

Chan could only sigh. The boy on the bed was now tugging persistently at his coat, desperately glowering at him because Chan still hadn’t responded to his earlier plea. His lips were set in a resolute line despite how they were already white from over exerting himself.

“Rest now, Changbin-ah,” He put a palm to his shoulder and firmly pressed him back down to the bed, the fact he couldn’t even resist just spoke about how weak he currently was.

“I’ll do all that I can. So don’t worry and rest,”

 

 

 

He had been caught by surprise when Chan suddenly whipped around, a glint in his eye as he announced loudly. 

“Felix, you _need_ to go and explore the school right this minute.”

And when he hadn’t responded, choosing instead to stare at the oldest boy suspiciously between narrowed eyes, because it just seemed so random? And why him alone, why not all of them together? Chan had nudged Minho repeatedly for back up (right in front of him) and furrowed his eyebrows in an exaggeratedly serious manner, which was honestly as serious as it could get with eyebrows that were practically absent.

Felix briefly considered telling him just so.

But Minho had looked alarmed at suddenly being dragged in, his eyes widening dramatically. And before he knew it, Felix found himself watching as a series silent communication bounced back and forth between the both of them, involving a wide range of glares, frowns and baring of teeth, before Minho had finally turned back around to nod vigorously at him.

He cleared his throat, “Yes, Felix. You should definitely go,” 

And when Chan shot him a look, Minho hastily added on with his best serious face in place, “ _Right now,”_

Felix blinked at them in confusion. 

Beside him, he heard the distinct sound of Changbin facepalming as he muttered softly under his breath, _“Idiots,_ all of them,”

But the next thing he knew, he was suddenly being engulfed by something black and cuddly. Felix remembered squawking in alarm as it barrelled into him, almost knocking him off his feet. He had screamed like a banshee and frantically stretched his fingers in attempt to grab Changbin’s own, because the older boy was by far the best hyung in the entire world, he couldn’t possibly be leaving his most beloved dongsaeng to perish at the hands of this thing, whatever it was, right?

 _Wrong._

_So bloody wrong._

And this is the bitter taste of _utter betrayal._

Changbin had shot him a smug grin and deliberately ducked just right out of reach. He even dared to wave at him goodbye, yelling loudly where the three of them had retreated to safety without him. 

“Tell me about it later! Don’t die while I’m gone, loser!”

 

Felix was just about to pry the human slug off him to give chase when he was met with a pair of wide eyes and a bright smile, “Hello! I’m Han Jisung!” the slug - or more accurately, the boy in the soft, black hoodie beamed up at him from where he had his arms _and_ legs wrapped around him like some kind of parasite - no wonder he could barely move an inch.

“Let’s be friends!” Parasite (or Slug, he hadn’t quite decided yet) said, his eyes crinkling.

And Felix sputtered, feeling his cheeks go red. 

Because awkward was his middle name, and he wouldn’t know, coming from an orphanage and all, but awkward had most definitely also been in his first name, his last name, english name, korean name, whatever name, if only to accurately describe the level of potato he was. He wasn’t used to speaking to new people just like, like _this?!_

He looked up and desperately sought for Changbin to rescue him, but the older boy was already long gone with Chan and Minho, those traitors! And he desperately tried to ignore it, but the slug who was still wrapped around him in a firm grip was staring at him with huge eyes, in a friendly but expectant manner which 10/10 times always made him a terribly nervous mess.

Felix wanted to _cry._

“Oh shit, oh no! Please don’t cry! Channie-hyung will kill me!”

Parasite was clearly panicking, finally disentangling himself from his body and Felix felt like he could finally breathe - both figuratively and literally, because the boy had been subconsciously squeezing his stomach like he was some oversized stuffed toy. But his joy was short-lived when he realised that Parasite was still looking at him like he was a time bomb going to explode, which he was, if he didn’t quit making him nervous.

He sniffled.

“Quick, quick! Look at my cheeks!” He urgently tried to divert his attention, pointing at them, “They look like a squirrel don’t they?” 

And Felix couldn’t help but get distracted as he frowned in concern at what the boy’s english was implying. Because after being alive for more than ten years, whether it was back in Sydney or in Korea, he was quite confident that cheeks most certainly do not look like squirrels regardless of whichever country they’re from, that would just be worrying. But if he meant that they were similar to that of a squirrel’s, then yes he would be deigned to agree.

“C’mon! You can poke them too! They’re really soft!” 

And before he could say anything, the boy was suddenly squeezing his eyes shut and pouting at him, his cheeks puffing out. He grabbed Felix’s hands and pulled them up to his face to squish it repeatedly beneath his palms, and Felix watched with wide eyes as they deflated time and time again with some sort of weird but oddly familiar sound.

He couldn’t help but snort in surprise. 

“Pfffft, it makes a farting noise.”

It was out before he could stop himself and he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. 

Felix wanted to groan in disbelief. This is why he can’t have nice things!

He had unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut as some sort of reflex, just in case the boy wanted to slap him for being rude, which he would wholeheartedly accept because Felix was _that_ idiot, the one who told someone he’d just met that their cheeks could make farting noises. 

But after maybe ten seconds of nothing, no slap, no hit, no water being splashed at him, maybe it was some sort of a trick to get him to open his eyes, but he simply had to sneak a peek.

It was a surprise, but the other boy was laughing soundlessly a good few metres away, rolling on the ground. His body was bent in half as he clutched at his stomach, trying hard to breathe between the tears that were rolling down his cheeks.

 

 _“How_ do you even think of such things anyway?!”

He’d scrunched his nose in thought but didn’t offer a reply, because he honestly didn’t know. Talent, maybe. Talent to piss people off. Thankfully not talented enough to piss Jisung off permanently. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? Because just when he was special in something, he didn’t have it enough in spades.

The boy now had his arm curled around his shoulders as he brought him around the canteens, only to point at every single stall and say ‘food’ in korean. Which excuse you, Han Jisung. He knew perfectly well how to say ‘food’ in korean, are you trying to prove something?

“You’re funny, although a bit weird. The good kind.” 

Jisung had laughed, and squeezed him affectionately. “You know what, I think we’ll get along _just fine,”_

 

 

 

Chan let out a loud groan as he settled into the chair, his body quickly melting into the cushion like butter in hot weather. He was so tired. That, and he couldn’t stop worrying about Changbin’s condition. 

Should he really be out of the hospital when he was like this? What if he needed some sort of specialised treatment to keep him stable? The school was nowhere as extensive as any hospital, but as soon as he brought up the ‘h’ word, Changbin would _snarl_ like a dog trained to bite if he dared to finish his sentence. 

Just to be clear, Chan wasn’t intimidated, he had a mean dakbam and he wasn’t scared to use it. But Changbin was an _injured_ person. That and Felix would be so disappointed if he’d ever find out that Chan had flicked the boy on the forehead three times while he was still sick in bed.

“Hyung. I thought about it, and there’s something very strange,”

Immediately, Chan straightened up as he turned to look at Minho, who now had his eyebrows pinched from where he was inspecting the sleeping boy’s arm. He could see the blackened skin and painful blisters from the electrical burn, previously hidden away by all the bandages. 

And goodness, he hadn’t thought it was this bad.

Minho sighed as he continued to change the bandages, carefully applying disinfectant over the wounds, but he was still shaking his head like he couldn’t work something out, “In my entire year as a nurse, I have never heard of a comatose patient being able to walk right after regaining consciousness, hyung. I was just so shocked when he woke up and started thrashing about that I didn’t have time to think about it,”

Chan frowned in thought, not quite getting what was off about that. 

“But we all saw Changbin walk, didn’t we?” 

He remembered all too well how the boy had stomped over to his car, flinging the door open like nobody’s business. Chan had felt his heart lurch in his chest seeing his precious car being treated like that. Yes, it had been somewhat of a desperate situation, but _still._ Thinking about it still made his heart hurt. Chan knew he was petty, and he wasn’t scared to admit it - he’ll get back at him later. _Just you watch, Seo Changbin!_

“Maybe he was desperate enough to find Felix? You’ve seen how he gets whenever Felix’s involved, he’s crazy insistent. Crazy _and_ insistent. He would have dragged his body off the bed either way.”

But Minho shook his head. 

“He was _walking_ , hyung. And it doesn’t work just like that. Patients like Changbin experience muscle atrophy, they lose their strength in their muscles due to inactivity, there’s no way he can start walking immediately. And,” He gestured to the arm, now freshly bandaged, “You might think that this is bad, but compared to when he was first brought in, this is _nothing_ in comparison.” 

“Recovery doesn’t even take place that fast,” Chan widened his eyes, somewhat understanding where Minho was going with this now. No matter how they thought about it, Changbin shouldn’t even have managed to be here at all.

“Is Changbin ..?” Minho didn’t need to finish his sentence. 

“He’s not, trust me. I checked.” he shook his head firmly.

 

It was a good while later when Minho had clapped his hands, his eyes bright as he stood up suddenly. His chair had clattered to the ground noisily and it scared the shit out of him, who had been innocently nodding off beside Changbin’s bed.

“Hyung!” Chan fumbled in a mess of limbs, and quickly shook himself awake.

And while he struggled to give him a coherent reply, mind still muddled with sleep, Minho continued to tap him impatiently, almost ready to slap him. “Those small green crystal things you gave me, I used it on Changbin when he had still been lying in coma!”

But Chan could only narrow his eyes at him in confusion. 

“Yes, I did ..?” 

And it came out sounding like a question because he himself hadn’t known what was so special about them. In fact, Woojin had handed him a bunch of those in a small satchel right before he had left. And when he asked what it was for, Woojin had simply patted his arm, smiled like he was speaking to a toddler, and told him to stop asking annoying questions, you goofball.

Chan learned a long time ago to just listen to the other boy. So when Woojin had said, give it to the kid (he didn’t say which kid, all three were kids in his opinion), Chan had nodded obediently, said bye and then driven off. 

Because as Woojin always said, it would always end up with the right person.

“I didn’t know what to do with them because you didn’t say anything when you threw the packet at me, so I just put them into Changbin’s hand. I forgot all about it later because I never saw it again, it was like they disappeared or something.” 

He paused to let Chan fill in the gaps himself.

“Do you think those crystals ..?”

Minho nodded at him, “It’s worth a shot. No harm, right?”

And Chan was already whipping his phone out, punching Woojin’s number into the keypad with shaking fingers.

 

 

 

As soon as the bell rang, Hyunjin was running out of the door, the strap of his bookbag clasped tightly in his hand because he didn’t even have the time to slide it on properly. He ignored all calls of his name as he sped down the halls. 

As the saying goes, _‘out of sight, out of mind’_ and in Hyunjin’s case - hopefully forever, although he knew that life usually wasn’t so kind.

Groups of students started emerging from their various classrooms for break and he quickly kept his head down, alternating between his usual routine of trying to be one with the walls and trying to hide his huge ass wings in whatever shadows there were in the corridor - which honestly speaking, why was it so bright today? Where were the shadows when he needed them?!

Hyunjin looked up to the ceiling in confusion, only to feel his retinas _burn_ in blinding pain. 

Okay, stupid idea. 

Someone must have changed the bulbs, they seemed LED now. 

Which was nothing but horrible news for Hyunjin, because his wings were not just big. But actually, _really fucking huge._ He knew that whatever shadows present in the school hall did a shit job in helping him conceal anything, but it always did give him a certain sense of comfort, false or not, that they were less obvious as long as he didn’t walk in broad daylight.

 

_”Unnie! Quick look! It’s Hwang Hyunjin from Class 1B!”_

_”What? Where is he!”_

_”Did you just say you saw Hwang Hyunjin?!”_

 

Well, shit. Time to walk faster.

He quickly picked up speed and rounded off a corner, and just for extra precautionary measure, darted into one of the lesser used hallways. Hopefully, he would remain safe from all other human beings until Jeongin came to find him for lunch. Hyunjin chanced a quick glance back, but thankfully, no one else had turned into the corridor after him, just the sound of footsteps and chatter as they passed by, talking loudly. 

He breathed out a quick sigh of relief, fancying himself safe for now.

Hyunjin quickly took the chance to shoot Jeongin a text on his whereabouts before he forgot, but when he slipped the phone back into his pockets, he almost had a heart attack.

It was then that he saw him - why on earth didn’t he see him earlier - dark brown hair in all it’s fluffy glory and eyebrows furrowed in a concentrated look as he stood in front of the vending machine. And for a moment, Hyunjin thought his heart had stopped.

And he said ‘heart attack’, because it stopped and then speeded up by maybe a thousand times faster from the usual, normal beating human heart that Hyunjin knew he had - Hyunjin got an A+ for his last physical to prove it, with the proper chops and all, the medical personnel even told him personally that he had ridiculously strong stamina and heart so he really couldn’t fathom why it wasn’t behaving properly now for some reason. 

Hyunjin’s nowhere ready for _this?!_

And he must have been staring for a while now, because fluffy-hair boy was now looking up at him, blinking cutely and oh. Hyunjin belatedly realises that’s he’s pointing at him in some level of recognition, asdnksdfsda

He tells himself that no, he’s not screaming in pure joy inside. Not at all.

Before he can actually think, Hyunjin’s body has already walked up to him without his permission, and thankfully the boy isn’t looking at him like he’s some sort of weirdo. Instead, he smiles warmly and tells him, “Hello, nice seeing you again,” And Hyunjin flounders, barely remembers to respond even, which makes him want to cry because he really, really doesn’t know why he’s being like this - so utterly embarrassing. Honestly, he’s normally nowhere this un-coordinated. 

“Hi,” he finally breathes out instead.

And the boy, an angel he must be, because he doesn’t even blink over the fact that Hyunjin took maybe an entire fifty seconds just to reply him. 

Get a hold of yourself, Hwang Hyunjin! And he mentally slaps himself out of his daze, or try to at least. So he gestures awkwardly to the vending machine instead, the one that everyone in school knows to avoid because it’s been reputed to gobble up money without spitting anything in return. 

“This one’s broken, I hope you didn’t put any coins in it yet,”

But considering the boy had wandered into the old training rooms just the other day, he wouldn’t be surprised.

And true enough, fluffy-hair turns around to sulk at him.

“H-hey, no worries. I’ll get it back for you,” 

Because if anything, Hyunjin has spent enough time ducking around the school to learn all sorts of tricks, and what better time to show off. He takes a good look at the evil money-eater, cruel enemy of cute boys, and nods to himself. He makes a brief gesture for the other boy to carefully step back, and when he sees that he’s safely out of range, Hyunjin takes a deep breath and gives the machine a loud and well-aimed kick.

There’s a rattle. 

And after a second, two cans of melon milk drop out.

Fluffy-hair beams at him with such joy that Hyunjin feels himself swooning. If he had known earlier, he would have gone around kicking down all the vending machines in school if it would make him this happy. But before he can start doing stupid things again, Hyunjin quickly bends down to pick up the two cans. 

And when he hands them both to the boy, fluffy-hair doesn’t hesitate to press one of the cans back into his hand. 

“Thank you,” he grinned cutely up at him.

And Hyunjin just knew in his heart. 

That this is the day that he’d become completely, and utterly whipped.

_Fuck._

 

 

 

“Sorry I took so long! Class ran a little late today,” 

Jeongin panted softly under his breath as he jogged up to the familiar winged figure, one hand busy rifling through his backpack for his bento box. 

Woojin had packed it for him today and the phrase _freaking heavy_ was a huge understatement. It had felt like he was lugging around a boulder to each of his morning classes and he’d simply attributed the enormous weight to his books. But at this point, Jeongin couldn’t even find it in himself to be surprised anymore.

It seemed that between both Chan and Woojin, they were still trying to outdo each other in terms of _‘who can feed Jeonginnie better’._ For case in point, today’s lunch box was overflowing with rice and the cover seemed like it was going to _burst._

Seriously, he’s not even a kid anymore. 

But Jeongin didn’t have the heart to tell them no, not when it made them so happy to even discuss what else they could possibly feed him next. He had seen them skyping each other often enough when the silver-haired boy was away, and to his complete non-surprise, one of their favourite topics was ‘What Should I Make for Jeongin’s Lunch Today’ followed by, ‘Please Discuss’ among many other things.

Well that, and the food was actually really, really good.

But hold on a second. 

Was that what he thought it was, lodged in the corner of the box? 

Jeongin squinted at the translucent lid and grimaced. Woojin must have felt like being sneaky, “Hyung, do you want my black beans? Woojin-hyung made some today and I really don’t want to eat it,” he insistently nudged the older boy standing beside him with an elbow, scrunching his nose in distaste.

What Woojin didn’t know wouldn’t kill him.

But when the silence lasted for far longer than a minute, Jeongin risked a glance up from where he was trying to pry the lid off without spilling anything. The older boy was just staring at the blank space ahead, a stupid smile etched across his face.

He blinked, lunch box quickly forgotten. 

Jeongin hadn’t seen him like his before, was he sick? He jabbed a finger into the older boy’s side, but he didn’t even respond when Jeongin twisted a finger ruthlessly into his flesh, which honestly started to scare him. Did he make him wait too long? Jeongin’s eyes widened in alarm, “Is hunger doing this to you? I’m so sorry! We can share my lunch, there’s way too much rice anyway! You can eat the bulgogi too!”

“Jeongin-ah,” 

At his name, the boy quickly looked up at his friend who was now cradling a can of melon milk near his face for some weird ass reason. You might pity him, but Jeongin will confidently tell you that he’s pretty much used to it after being friends with the one and only Hwang Hyunjin for such a long time.

“He called me _Hyunjinnie,_ just now.”

And Jeongin made a face in disgust, because Hyunjin had this huge, besotted look and it made Jeongin want to punch him, handsome face or not. Hyunjin can forget about sharing his beloved bulgogi, Jeongin was hungry and he was done wasting his time with this nonsense.

“Hurry up, hyung. Lunch will be over if you continue to stand there,” he tugged on his sleeve, but the older boy didn’t move an inch. Jeongin groaned, because Hyunjin was a good 177cm, he couldn’t even drag him if he tried. Don’t even mention the wings, they weigh a _ton._

“Okay, I’ll give.” He threw up his hands into the air in surrender, “Who called you ‘Hyunjinnie’ and made you like this. I have done nothing to deserve being starved during lunch break. I have a perfectly good bento and I’m an _innocent_ party,” Jeongin tapped his foot impatiently. He’d hate to admit it, but he was honestly half pouting and half whining at this point.

Hyunjin beamed, opening his mouth and then stopping abruptly.

_Now what._

“I didn’t even get his _name!_ ”

Jeongin just rolled his eyes and sighed.

 

 

 

“Hi, I’m Kim Woojin,” 

The blonde had smiled, his eyes forming into crescents as he offered him a hand in introduction. The older boy had came down earlier with the familiar set of crystals and they had all watched as they dissolved into his skin within minutes. Like magic, suddenly Changbin was breathing a little easier in sleep, the creases in his brow disappearing as colour started to return to his cheeks. 

Both he and Chan had heaved a huge sigh of relief.

But Minho found himself hesitating. Not because Woojin seemed like a bad person - he really didn’t, he had a kind smile on his face and he had looked honestly glad that he could help - but because Minho was not someone who liked skin contact. 

Even as he worked as a nurse - which was honestly the wrong profession to go into considering his current condition, and was also why he wanted to quit so badly - he did his best to perform every single duty with gloves on.

But as though Woojin had read his mind, he quickly retracted his hand, an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m _so sorry,_ I can’t believe I forgot,”

Minho watched in surprise as the boy quickly pulled up a pair of gloves to put on, and then offered his hand to him again, smiling pleasantly like Minho didn’t just hesitate for a whole minute to shake his hand like some rude asshole.

“As I was saying, I’m Kim Woojin. Nice to meet you, Minho-ah. Chan didn’t say anything about your abilities, but we would really like to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE,  
> I'm so sorry for the delay!  
> But hey, look at this whooping 4.6k chapter!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Finally we have the whole of Stray Kids in one chapter  
> ^^
> 
> Feel free to let me know your thoughts or share your constructive criticism!  
> Tell me your favourite parts (if any)  
> They're always welcome!  
> Thank you ~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES, I AM _SO_ TERRIBLY SORRY FOR MAKING YOU GUYS WAIT.  
>  THIS PAST FEW DAYS AND WEEK HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. SOB.  
> BUT ANYWAY, IT'S HERE. A WHOLE 4.9K CHAPTER OF WORDS.  
> //passes out

“Jeongin-ah! Jeongin!”

Hyunjin was biting his lip, tapping his foot urgently. 

Truthfully, he was being unreasonably impatient here, each second of no response feeling far longer than it should and it was making him jittery. He tried to calm himself down, but when his repeated knocking continued to be met with silence, he inevitably found himself weighing at the back of his mind, how much Jeongin liked his door and how much it would cost him to earn his way back into the younger boy’s graces if he were to break the wooden barrier off its hinges. 

Being friends for over five years _should_ entail Hyunjin a friendship discount right? 

Not that he was unwilling, but Jeongin was a growing boy and his appetite would most definitely burn a hole into his pocket, possibly even his bank account if the younger was feeling particularly revengeful.

He shuddered. 

But thankfully, all thoughts of destroying public property and being held at the mercy of a certain Yang Jeongin, cutie extraordinaire but a tiny evil in disguise, was dispersed at the sound of faint rustling and footsteps.

Hyunjin sagged in relief when the door finally creaked open to reveal the younger boy, hair dishevelled and still fully clad in his fluffy pink dinosaur pyjamas, looking every bit like a marshmallow. And if Hyunjin hadn’t been in that much of a rush, he would have cooed and cuddled him there and then, maybe even snap a photo or two for keepsake.

Jeongin had been rubbing at his eyes, mind still eighty percent addled with sleep when he finally registered who was the familiar face at his doorstep. Actually freezing mid yawn, he had gasped and quickly turned to look at the clock, but nope, Jeongin wasn’t mistaken. 

It really was Hwang Hyunjin, eight fifteen in the morning, already in his uniform and with hair seemingly combed for the first time in _months._

“Hyung? Why are you- No wait, how are _you_ even up right now?”

Did the world end before anyone bothered to inform him? Because the Hwang Hyunjin that Jeongin knew, never, _ever,_ attended a single morning class over the entire course of their five year friendship. The older boy couldn’t even wake up before ten on a good day, eight fifteen was seriously setting the record high. When will Jeongin ever get to witness this rare occasion again? The next eclipse?

He then heard the older boy hiss under his breath, eyes narrowed and filled with so much hatred, like just the mention of it was toxic. 

_”Literature,”_

And it only served to make things weirder, because even in his half-awake state, Jeongin could distinctly remember how much the other loathed having to take the subject. He didn’t endure all of Hyunjin’s whining at the start of the semester to emerge without having that fact drilled effectively into his head, just so he could remember to _never_ bring up that topic ever again if he didn’t want to become the involuntary audience to a three-hour long rant on why it was stinky and boring. 

He even had the (mental) scars to prove it. Once was enough, so no bloody thank you.

Before he can think to lodge a complaint, because who on earth was making Hyunjin attend his Literature classes like a good student? Not on Jeongin’s watch at least! Because clearly, he didn’t see why he had to go through torture the second time around when it had nothing to do with him, that’s just not fair. But the older boy was grabbing his shoulders, shaking him with wide and frantic eyes.

“Jeongin-ah, I’m going to be late! Quick! Do you have a spare tie?”

And seeing his friend so anxious, he briefly remembered snatching one up from the rack to quickly push it into his hands, nevermind that he was quite literally sending the older boy off to his doom, because Hyunjin will never survive that hour long class and Jeongin, by default, just signed himself up for utter suffering again. 

Yes, he just made another bad life choice. But it was morning, give him a break.

Hyunjin thanked him profusely, eyes turning up in crinkles as he pulled him into a big hug before finally waving and running down the hallways with a freaking huge _smile,_ a literal skip in his steps, to Literature over all things.

Yeah okay, weird and getting weirder.

Jeongin simply decided that he wasn’t nearly awake enough to deal with this shit.

 

 

 

“Yah! Lee Felix! Do you _really_ have to do this?!”

Chan yelled as he tugged on the straps of the boy’s backpack for the fifth time, but Felix simply refused to budge. He had his arms curled around Changbin, who was honestly doing nothing aside from leaning back, his legs crossed with a small smile edging on his lips while he watched Chan struggle fruitlessly against the squirming mess, like some spectator to a circus event that he had no part of, but just happened to stop by from the house across the street.

He had shot the dark-haired boy many dirty looks, but they only bounced off him, Changbin remaining completely unbothered by the thousands of daggers Chan had been sending him. How bloody convenient.

And honestly, the least he could do was to offer some help! He was the center of the freaking problem for goodness sake!

“But hyung! This is _preposterous!”_

And Chan tiredly ran a hand across his face as the younger boy continued to whine about all sorts of unfairness, only gripping onto Changbin further. If he hadn’t been so frustrated, he probably would have laughed because it was ridiculous how only during times like these that Felix would suddenly find it in himself to spew out complicated korean words off the back of his hand (some of which had such difficulty that Chan blinked in surprise) if only to save his sorry butt.

That brat.

Now if only he would apply this surprising skill to his korean classes instead.

“How is it possible that I only have _one_ class with Changbin-hyung, while Jisungie gets _three!_ They haven’t even met each other yet! It’s not fair!” And each time Chan moved a step closer, Felix would shriek loudly and try to maintain the distance between them by wriggling away without having to detach himself unnecessarily from Changbin

“This is a ploy! A conspiracy! The school wants to separate us! Hyung, you should be _helping_ me!”

Felix squeezed the dark-haired boy harder. But considering how Changbin didn’t even wince, he must have been used to having a leech stuck to him 24/7 (how admirable, he would have applauded him there and then if he wasn’t so irritated right now), either that or he was a perv, because Chan could see through his noob attempts of concealing a smile.

“I _am_ helping you. Helping you to get to class!” And Chan was so Done playing nice.

He had been trying to pry Felix off for about fifteen minutes now and his patience was wearing dangerously thin. So to settle this once and for all, he cracked his neck and flexed his fingers, because no sense risking a pulled muscle over a silly thing like this right? And from the corner of his eye, he felt a certain bloom of satisfaction when he saw both Felix and Changbin tense at his display. 

That’s right, squirts, be scared. Be _very_ scared.

It was probably over within three seconds. He feinted to the right, and immediately the both of them had scrambled to urgently get away. And before they knew it, he was already lunging at the younger boy, grabbing him by the waist and heaving him up into the air. Felix shrieked and struggled, limbs flailing all over, and Chan quickly made use of the momentum to unhook his nails from Changbin’s school uniform.

It was all done in one fluid move that you would think he was some sort of trained nanny with seven years of intensive experience under his belt. Which thinking about it, Woojin would have agreed that it didn’t sound quite too far from the truth.

“And don’t be silly, Felix. The schedules are random, it’s just bad luck.” He clapped the boy on the back, who was still staring at him with wide eyes like some small shivering animal. Poor child, why did he look like he just saw a ghost?

 _Aigo,_ Chan shook his head. 

Because really, what did Felix have to worry about when he had his Channie-hyung just right beside him!

 

 

 

Changbin watched as the younger boy turned around to pout miserably at him, grumbling softly under his breath. His brown hair was sticking up in odd places from all that flailing about and coupled with the disgruntled expression on his face, he looked like a baby chick that had stumbled about one too many times and was now being adorably grumpy over it.

_So freaking cute._

“Changbin-hyung,” the younger whined, making grabby hands at him. 

And Changbin found himself having to bite down to prevent another smile from creeping up again. He was surprised when it stung, a faint taste of blood as pain blossomed on the lower lip where his teeth had subconsciously sunk into the tender area. Belatedly, he ran his tongue over it and realised that it was sore and terribly bruised. Maybe it was because he had been repeating the action a lot lately, although he didn’t know when or how he had developed that particular habit. 

“There, there,” Chan quickly stepped in between them before Felix could dive for Changbin once more, they were supposed to head for their first class in a couple of minutes and Chan didn’t have the time or energy to pluck the glued-on koala off him again. 

At the sight of Felix’s rumpled uniform and mess of a hair, the oldest boy started groaning. Because if the younger walked into lesson just like that, people would think he rolled down the stairs and maybe leaped over several different railings just to get there. So with a firm hand, he quickly held him still and ran fingers through the brown locks, trying to comb them down so he would stop too much like roadkill although Chan was honestly no miracle worker.

“You can find Changbin during break,” the silver-haired boy said as he pinched the freckled cheeks between his fingers. 

“Maybe even bring Jisung along since you have morning classes together, you wanted them both to meet right?” and Changbin watched as Felix nodded obediently at him, making the older boy grin. Their interaction was all very innocent, sweet even, but for some odd reason, it made his hackles rise in agitation and he couldn’t understand why.

He didn’t even know what caused it. Maybe it was the way the two boys were standing in such close proximity, or the way Felix tilted his head slightly, baring his neck to the left as he accommodated the older boy’s gentle teasing, the squishing and the ruffling of hair.

It made him all mad. Made him want to punch a wall or something.

Before he knew it, he was shoving himself bodily between the them, clearing his throat in an obnoxiously loud manner. “We should stop wasting time, we’re going to be late. Let’s go already.” Although it seemed like he was courting death, especially since he’d just witnessed first hand how Chan’s had moved like an animal when he wrangled Felix off him earlier.

But who the fuck cared about going to class late anyway? Changbin certainly didn’t, just that he’d merely hated how the two other boys had been standing so close together that he simply had to interrupt. And he refused to move until Chan stepped away, thankfully only giving him a strange but amused look.

Well, whatever.

Anger boiled beneath the surface of his skin and it was making him prickly. Shaking his head grumpilly, he quickly grabbed his bag, fully intending to stomp all the way out of the door. But suddenly he was stopped by arms snaking around him, warm body heat engulfing his entire left side.

“Changbinnie-hyung,” 

Felix was looking up at him from where he had his cheek smushed against his shoulder, freckles like an expanse of stardust across tanned skin. And almost immediately, he felt his irritation cool like molten lava as the boy held onto his arm, fingers light against his bandages.

A guilty emotion flickered uncomfortably in his gut when he realised that the younger was running a hand carefully over them, a downcast look apparent on his face, and Changbin could easily guess what was on his mind again.

It made him feel like there was something squeezing his heart, and was doing so in the most cruel possible way.

They hadn’t talked about it yet, and he didn’t quite know what to say. He suspected that Felix too, felt the same way, for he remained uncharacteristically quiet although it must have been killing him from the inside. Because if he were to sit down and find the words to his thoughts, it felt like he would be releasing the very floodgates that he had been so desperately trying to keep close and ignore. 

Like it would erase all traces of pretense and inevitably, admit to both of them, that his injury was very real, was very much more than just a small hindrance, and was very honestly affecting him both physically and mentally.

It would have made the younger boy feel worse and it was the last thing he’d ever wanted.

Chan and Minho had both went to considerable lengths trying to keep his condition from being discovered, many times speeding away to hide in some obscure location whenever they knew Felix came asking. Up in the trees, in the toilets, you name it. Chan even once displayed impressive parkour skills as he climbed over some wall to escape.

They had also become incredibly skilled at inventing random excuses on the spot, trained and honed over the several occasions that Felix had actually caught them by their jackets and threatened with pouting lips and teary eyes over why on earth did Changbin have to start school an entire two months later than he.

While they had managed to keep it up for an entire month to Felix’s growing frustration, their efforts only came crashing down when the younger had barged unexpectedly into the infirmary for a scrape on his knee, something about Jisung that idiot who accidentally crashed into him while going in for a hug, only to witness Minho in the process of replacing the bandages on his arm.

 

“What is it, loser.” 

He didn’t know when his fingers had absentmindedly moved to tangle themselves between the straps of the younger boy’s bag, but he tugged on them to pull Felix closer against him, thankfully breaking him out of his daze. And Felix moved to squeeze his hands, more gently with his left one.

“Hyung, I’ll find you later for lunch! Just stay where you are!”

And Changbin rolled his eyes, although there wasn’t any heat in it. “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly capable of navigating the school grounds beyond the infirmary. Did you forget who was the one who’d dragged your ass back from the supermarket?”

Immediately, Felix wrinkled his nose and laughed. Because he too, could still remember that one time where the he’d wandered into one, innocently looking for shampoo and had gotten lost within five minutes. Changbin had been frantic, running around over two floors just to hunt for the boy, only to eventually find Felix on the verge of tears somewhere between the aisles and aisles of canned food, in a completely unrelated section.

And Changbin felt himself sag in relief. 

Because as long as Felix remained laughing and smiling, everything to him was good.

 

 

 

 

“Sorry, Felix! Gotta blast! I almost forgot I need to meet someone today!”

Jisung hastily shoved his textbooks into his bag, only to realise his mistake a few seconds too late. He couldn’t help but wince when he saw how some of the pages had crumpled awkwardly together in his haste, but a glance at the clock hanging above their classroom door told him that he didn’t have much time to mourn over it.

That’s okay. He could do it later, in his own room. 

Where no one would see and he had all the freedom to cry as much as he wanted while he smoothed out each and every single page with his bare hands, because he was just the kind of person that hated his things getting torn and crumpled.

“You’ll be alright, Felix-ah?”

And the brunette quickly nodded, even playing the part of a dutiful friend by helping him stuff all the scattered stationary into his already overflowing pencil box. But when Jisung looked up from his bag to thank him, he almost burst out laughing instead. Because Felix had this look of utter concentration, eyebrows furrowed and the tip of his tongue stick outing as he struggled to zip up the damn thing.

After five seconds of no progress, the boy gave up, groaning. 

So Jisung mouthed a soft ‘weak’ at the other boy and wriggled his fingers at him, gesturing at his classmate to toss it over. But when his own traitorous arms shivered in effort to close it, he looked up only to find Felix staring at him in barely concealed amusement, from where he had been watching the entire time with a casual elbow propped up on their desk. 

Making sure to maintain eye contact, the other boy smirked and whispered back in that low voice of his, _“You’re weaker.”_

It took another two minutes of struggling before they managed to zip up the pencil box with their combined strengths and Jisung had to reach a hand up to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Felix on the other hand, was flopped over his chair, also completely defeated. “Do I even want to know why you need _five_ blue pens, Jisungie.” he groaned.

And Jisung felt his cheeks blush. Because it wasn’t just five, he had maybe another three sitting somewhere at the bottom of his bag or something. 

“Shut up. You won’t understand, you- you- neanderthal! They are all different even if they are all blue! The mighty and great Han Jisung would take pity and explain it to you, a mere child, but I’m going to be late!” Jisung quickly stood up to buckle up his bag, or to y’know, escape from embarrassment.

But Felix had his eyebrows raised, arms crossed and clearly not convinced.

“Ah cool, so your _three_ erasers are also different too?”

Which only made Jisung groan and hide his face behind the palms of his hands. Because shit, Felix saw that too. Which meant that he had probably also seen his three rulers and roughly four other pencils. “Oh my goat. Why are you exposing me like this, Lee Felix! I thought we were friends!” he moaned. Jisung was a hoarder, okay? 

“You started it!” Felix hissed in return. 

Which was well, sorta true. 

But he still kicked at the other boy’s shoes in revenge and then dashed out of the classroom with his friend yelling behind him.

 

 

 

Minho was absentmindedly scrolling through his new phone (recap: he threw the old one out the window of Chan’s car) when he’d heard a rather loud ‘splat’ coming from outside the classroom. He normally would have ignored it, because it honestly wasn’t any business of his as to who decided to wipe the floor with their faces that day, but then his supposed acquaintance was running about fifteen minutes late from their meeting time and it wasn’t that hard to guess who the poor soul might be.

He had pulled the door open, only to look down and find a boy with brown streaks in his hair sprawled all over the floor, his uniform a rumpled mess and a rainbow pencil case a few feet away from him.

Well, okay.

Minho cleared his throat, eyeing the student who looked ready to curl up in embarrassment. 

But some odd reason, he hadn’t made to move from his spot, simply choosing instead to remain face down on the ground. Which was sort of weird? Minho considered nudging the body with a foot, but that didn’t sound quite like what someone with a background in nursing should do. So he forcibly restrained his otherwise natural instincts to poke and pinch at strange new things. Chan would be so proud of him.

Minho stared at the sprawled out form before him and coughed awkwardly into his hand. “Excuse me, might you happen to be the certain Han Jisung that Woojin-hyung was talking about?”

A muffled groan came from the boy still on the ground, along with a string of gibberish as he finally moved to bury his face into the sleeves of his uniform, maybe to let out a quiet sob even. Ah understandable. Minho would have done that too if it were him, this was nothing short of embarrassing.

“Nice to meet you too, I guess.” he shrugged.

Minho had bent down to pick up the pencil box that had rolled away, but unknowingly, they had both reached out at the same time, Jisung’s hand covering his. And he had almost jolted in surprise, expecting to be bombarded with a series of frontal thoughts, emotions and everything else he wished he never had the curse of hearing.

Only to be met with blessed silence.

He had blinked in huge confusion, but the boy seemed oblivious to his dilemma, simply taking the item from his hand and thanking him with a cheerful smile. Even when their fingers brushed, still nothing happened. 

A minute or so must have passed before he finally looked up, only to find the boy shoving his face extremely close to his when he’d failed to respond after several times.

“Han Jisung,” he said, and the boy nodded happily at him, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Yes, hyung? Can I call you hyung?”

He hated to be _that_ person, but “Your nose is bleeding,”

 

 

 

“Jeonginie!”

It was the only warning he got before he was suddenly engulfed in a warm back hug, uniform-clad arms winding round his shoulders to squeeze at him tightly. And briefly, he could register the person rubbing their cheeks into his hair as though he were their most favourite pillow. 

He sighed. Not this again.

Because he’d honestly told all of them, close to hundreds of times, that he wasn’t some sort of glorified stuffed toy, but it seemed that no one ever retained that fact despite his repeated complaints.

Jeongin considered shaking his friend off, because _hello,_ he was trying to establish a certain reputation here? The one where he’s no longer a kid that needs to be coddled, remember? But it was also proving to be extremely difficult to pull away, the hug feeling especially nice and warm - it gave him those kind of fluffy and soft emotions that people would normally associate with huddling under blankets on rainy nights, that level of comfort - and it inevitably made him hesitate, reputation be damned. 

Agh! Cuddles, stay in your lane!

But since the the older boy had apparently gone through all that trouble just to track down his class and harass him, Jeongin guess that he _could_ give in just for today, maybe spare him an entire minute of this squishing business before he put his foot down (out of the pure goodness of his heart of course, certainly not because he was enjoying the hugs a little too much, nuh-uh)

“What do you want now,” he tilted his head back to send the other boy his best unamused stare.

But to his dismay, its intended effect fell flat, considering how his friend had simply laughed at him without a moment’s hesitation, only prodding his cheek with a finger. And when he turned around to huff at him, the other boy daringly stuck a tongue out in return.

Wow, where is the respect he deserved?

“Eat lunch with me, Jeonginie. I don’t like anyone enough from my classes,” his friend said, pretending to inspect his nails for specks of dirt. 

And suddenly Jeongin had this undeniable urge to call him out on his bullshit, because he knew for a fact that the older boy didn’t even bother to know (or even ask) the names of half the people he shared his lessons with, which was hardly valid enough of a basis to decide whether he liked them enough or not. And Jeongin wasn’t oblivious, he could pretty much guess what the older boy had been thinking. 

He couldn’t say he understood completely, but he just hoped that in time to come he would stop being so averse to the idea of meeting new people. Although not everyone was good, but you’d never know when you could find someone worth trusting.

And the older boy must have seen it coming, because before he could even say anything about it, he was already jutting out him bottom lip at him, sending Jeongin his best puppy eyes (which tried and tested, had a 100% chance of softening his heart). Please see Exhibit One, the perfect example of what an abuse of power is like. Horrible, you would wonder who exactly was the hyung here.

“Sure, why not.” he conceded quickly. It was a losing battle anyway. If anything, he learnt that it was best to exit while his pride was still intact.

The other beamed happily at him, clapping his hands like a seal.

Too bad Hyunjin couldn’t join them. Jeongin shared the same break slots as him on most days so they had become regular lunch buddies. But on Mondays like these, the other boy would probably be having his combat classes in the other building sometime now. It would have been nice to introduce them both, maybe expand his friend’s social circle even just by one more person. 

The two of them were the same age after all and Jeongin was rather confident that Hyunjin was good enough of a person despite the headaches they would give each other occasionally, but that’s just what friends did.

“Hurry up, maknae! Pack faster! Chop chop!”

Seungmin laughed, swinging his legs from where he was perched on a nearby table as he watch Jeongin give up sorting his worksheets, only to dump them all into his bag with the rest of his belongings.

 

 

 

“You can stop worrying you know. I actually _do_ meet new people,” 

Jeongin looked up from where he had been slurping Chan’s Spaghetti Special to stare at him exaggeratedly for effect. But it only made Seungmin pause mid-chew to tell him, “You look stupid like that when you have sauce on your cheek,”

Whoops. He grimaced and tried to wipe at his face, but failed miserably until Seungmin reached over to clean it off him with a napkin. “What new people? You mean that _one_ guy who rescued your melon milk from the vending machine?” 

The older boy nodded, ignoring his jab and returned back to his own pasta instead, Chan had made some for him too and he’d never had such good food before. “We shared a class this morning and sat together, but it’s honestly the first time I’ve seen him in it since the semester started so it surprised me. He’s nice but a bit odd?”

He stared, eyes wide. “So he just appeared in your class one day and said hi?” 

It made Jeongin scrunched up his nose in worry, he’d only said to meet new people, not to befriend potential murderers! He’ll tell Woojin later, so that they could report this person if he was being weird towards Seungmin. “Hyung, is he some sort of creep? If he is, you don’t have to tolerate it! Like run away or something,” Yeah, and then maybe send Chan after him. Chan could be scary when he wanted to, and although he was sort of not very tall, Jeongin believed that he could scare the person far, far away.

But the older boy only hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a finger.

“I don’t know actually. Like he has this thing where he would stare at my face for a whole thirty seconds before replying? It made me think I had ink smudged on my nose or something. And earlier in class, he told me that Literature was his favourite subject, but almost immediately, I heard someone from the back gasping loudly.”

What! That guy _had_ to be a creep! How dare he stare and prey on innocent Seungminie!

“He had his book upside down the entire time too, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that when he was trying so hard. He clearly hated the subject, but told me he’ll definitely see me in class next week. I think it’s because I mentioned I sat alone in Lit the last time I saw him.”

Jeongin made a face. 

Because _what-ever_. He’s definitely telling Woojin now, fullstop.

Whoever he was, he’d better start praying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I hope you enjoyed it!  
> If there were any parts that you particularly enjoyed I'll be glad to know ; )  
> //wiggles eyebrow at you
> 
> OH MY GOAT STRAY KIDS ARE GONNA DEBUT SOON  
> HOW WILL I SURVIVE  
> I'M GONNA BE EXTREMELY BUSY THESE FEW WEEKS SO IDK WHEN THE NEXT CHAP WILL BE OUT BUT I'LL DO MY BEST!  
> leave me comments and kudos to make encourage me please hahaha  
> (you don't have to if you don't want to, no sweat!)


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